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I poked my head into the Java SIG to see how it went and I was surprised to see so many Java developers as I was beginning to think there weren’t any. 😉 Anyway I was very happy to see how the SIG was run. Pretty much all Q&A, no demos. The Java devs pretty much asked asked away and the Java team responded to just about all the questions. I was happy to see when Steve Citron-Pousty asked how many developers read blogs and almost every hand went up (I’ve always said the Java developers were a smart and handsome bunch). Of course Steve was sadden to hear that most didn’t know he had a blog, but it does validate what I’ve been saying all this time. Developers look for information in areas that ArcGIS Desktop users do not. Blogs should be very important to ESRI’s community.

I was glad that some Java developers are reading this blog so I’ll try and pass on more Java info as I hear it. I’ll write up my final post on day 2 at the Dev Summit and my thoughts about the whole experience probably late tonight or tomorrow.

It was good seeing everyone again and we had 4 great demos of GIS software for the contest. First up was Dave Bouwman and Sanborn showing a really slick integration of ArcIMS into DotNetNuke. Basically the portal that they created allows uses to create their own maps and integrate the into the portal without having to pay a programmer to do it for them. Talk about a money saver and it earned them a rubber chicken.

After Sanborn, Jithen Singh of Eagle Technology demoed an application that a programmer had written to test how fast he could get vector data to load in a client. Basically this programmer created a binary format for vector data and then created vector pyramids. The result was the ability to zoom in on a map from country scale to city scale without any wait for loading of the vectors. No longer waiting for those large vector datasets to load because much like pyramids in rasters, it really did speed up the map. The application wasn’t based on any ESRI technology so no chicken for them, but it really showed how vector pyramids are a time saver.

Then Jeremy Bartley showed a AGS Java demo that he built using code examples from ESRI java bloggers. He earned himself the “Java” chicken somewhat by default, but his point that there are great examples from Java programmers should be a call to aggregate some of this knowledge.

Update – OK, I finally had a chance to check out Jeremy’s demo application he wrote. It is very slick and anyone who’s using Java with AGS should ask him to blog about what he did. Impressive to say the least!

Last was Jim Cser and his KML Home Companion extension. I wasn’t around for most of his demo, but he’s really taken this free KML export tool far and for casual KML export is so simple and easy. This earned him a programming book.

We had about 20 people in the bar so it was a great turn out. Here’s hoping that the summit goes as well.

I’m in the hotel and the weather is not bad (I only say that because I live in Phoenix, but I’m sure everyone else will think it is wonderful). There is wireless internet access in the bar so we should be able to wing something for the contest tonight. The one thing though that is killing me (more than the $10 a day internet access) is that there is no power outlet near the desk. I don’t think you could put the desk further from an electrical outlet if you tried. Bah, good thing I have two batteries.

See everyone tonight in the hotel bar.

I’m leaving this morning, flying into Palm Springs for the Developer Summit/BPC. I’ll see everyone tonight at the Contest/Meetup at 6pm. Remember, everyone is invited so drop on by.

Dave Bouwman has just announced that he’s converting the ArcDeveloper blog into a community for ESRI developers. He’s got a couple things outlined in the post and is looking for suggestions and feedback (comments are closed here so respond on Dave’s post).

This is something we’ll definitely have to talk about at the Developer Summit for sure.

The unofficial developer contest and blogger meetup will be at 6pm Thursday March 16th in the The Calabrese Lounge at the Wyndham Palm Springs. I’ll probably be in there before 6pm so just look for the guy that looks like that picture in the upper right hand side of the blog (I’m the one on the left). You don’t have to be a developer or even a blogger to come have fun. Just show up we’ll have a good time. Remember to bring any code or demos for the contest if you want to win either a cool chicken signed by Scott Morehouse for the two best or two great programming books for the last place entries (trust me these are good).

If you want to get a hold of me at the Summit or the Business Partner Conference, just take a look at my contact page for my email and or IM accounts.

Just got an email about the Arizona ESRI Developer User Group Kickoff Meeting scheduled for April 10, 2006. Since its about 100 yards from my office, I’m sure I’ll attend. I’m hopeful that much has been learned from the Denver Developer User Group Meeting, (the highlights seem to match what happened at Denver) but at least it will be a short walk back to the office. I am interested in seeing the City of Mesa ArcGIS Server case study so I might stick around.

Kerry Coffin blogs about the new SVG Viewer for ArcWeb 2006. He’s got some info on the “Widgets” that will be available as well as some performance issues with native Firefox SVG support vs. the Adobe Plug-in. Looks really sweet guys!

OK, I’ve gotten a couple IMs from people interested in the Chickens. They want to know what is required to enter. Well its easy. The project has to be related to ESRI in some way, with better credit given to those projects which use ArcGIS. If you’ve got an amazing MapObjects project, feel free to show it, but ArcGIS Engine would get you more “points”. Plus its not limited to just embedded GIS or server GIS. You can submit anything you’ve created with Desktop also (VB, .NET, VBA) and try and win something also. Heck with 4 prizes available, you might just win something if everyone else is too lazy.

Someone also asked me if it has to work. Well working code is better than non-working code so you might want to get it to do something before submitting it. But hey, 50% of something cool is better than nothing and that might be enough to win a Chicken.

Oh and some people have RSVP’d so I now at least a couple people will win a prize. And who wouldn’t want a Chicken on their desk inspiring them to program better GIS applications?

If you want to learn more about what prizes are being offered by Steve and I for the contest, check out his blog post. Remember to be there in the hotel bar Thursday night.

Steve’s Photos