Howard Lovatt's Weblog http://www.artima.com/weblogs/index.jsp?blogger=hlovatt Artima Weblogs is a community of bloggers posting on a wide range of topics of interest to software developers. Artima.com http://www.artima.com/images/artima88x33.gif http://www.artima.com/ Simplyfing Java Generics by Eliminating Wildcards http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=222021 Many people have written that generics in Java are too complicated, this blog examines a simplification — the elimination of wildcards. An Alternative to Closure Conversion and to Restricted Closures http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=220920 The Closure proposal from Neal Gafter et al. introduces something that is like an object, a closure, but not quite. To enable interoperation with normal objects a form of autoboxing is used, this autoboxing has two forms, normal closure conversion and restricted closure conversion. This blog examines an alternative. Traits for Java http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=220916 There is a lot of interest currently in the ability to extend a class (or something close to class extension) without requiring recompilation or source changes, Traits offer a viable method of achieving this. Extension Methods and Chained Invocations http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=220783 Two Java 7 proposed extensions, extension methods and chained invocations, give extra meaning to method call syntax. Neither proposal has proved popular with bloggers and this blog suggests an alternative. Lexical Scope of Java Inner Classes and Closures http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=206734 One of the key differences between the different Java inner class and closure proposals is the lexical scope of names, this blog compares the scoping of the major proposals (CICE + ARM, C3S, FCM + JCA, and BGGA in both its forms) Super Type Tokens http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=206350 Neil Gafter has proposed Super Type Tokens and also noted their limitations. Alternatives include reify generics and providing generic factories. Super Type Tokens are a means of remembering the erased type using a token, which is an instance of TypeRef in the example. Comparing Inner Class/Closure Proposals http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=202004 There are at least 4 inner class/closure proposals for Java 7 and it is hard to compare them because they use different terms and different syntax for similar concepts. This post makes the comparison easier by seperating concerns. Clear, Consistent, and Concise Syntax (C3S) for Java http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=182412 Many people think that inner classes in Java could be better; this Blog presents a new syntax that emphasizes Clarity, Consistency, and Conciseness (in that order!). An example usage is: withLock lock, method { out.println "Hello" }; Inner Classes or Closures http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=180638 One of the areas receiving a lot of attention for J7 is simplifying and extending the capabilities of inner classes or adding a new construct the closure. This blog examines the options and compares the different proposals using a typical example, inject.