src/content/community/articles/interviews/netcat68-ulf-zibis.html - netbeans-website-cleanup - Git at Google

 <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
 <html><head>
     <meta http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
     <title>NetBeans 6.8 Community Tester Ulf Zibis</title>
     <meta name="AUTHOR" content="Tinuola Awopetu">
     <meta name="description" content="Ulf Zibis, a NetBeans 6.8 community tester, explains how participating in NetBeans' Beta testing program helps his development needs.">
     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../../netbeans.css">
   </head>
   <body>
     <h1>Meet the Top Community Testers for NetBeans 6.8</h1>
     <span style="font-style: italic;">January 2010</span><br>
     <h4>Ulf Zibis: Six Advantages of Being a NetBeans Beta Tester <br>
     </h4>
     <span style="font-style: italic;"><br>
     </span>
     <h2>Tell us about your background as a developer and NetBeans user.<br>
     </h2>
     <img src="../../../images_www/articles/interviews/ulf-zibis.png" alt="Ulf Zibis - NetCAT 6.8 Participant" style="width: 150px; height: 201px;" align="left" hspace="5" vspace="2">I
     started with the KAWA editor in 1999. My first IDE was Sun's
     Forte; then replaced by Sun Studio and then later the NetBeans IDE.
     Intermittently, I tried Eclipse, but I didn't see any advantages for
     me. For example, it lacked the Mobility and GUI Builder capabilities of
     NetBeans.<br>
     <br>
     <p>My interests: I've been hacking at the JDK code for a long time. It started with
       finding and fixing several bugs in the JDBC-ODBC driver because I
       wanted to integrate a simple object oriented interface (<a href="http://jdbc-odbc-enhanced.dev.java.net/">jdbc-odbc-enhanced</a>).
       While bug fixing, I stumbled across a performance leak caused by
       the inability of the java.nio.charset API to handle zero-terminated
       native strings efficiently. So I thought about adding such an ability
       to this API (<a href="http://java-nio-charset-enhanced.dev.java.net/">java-nio-charset-enhanced</a>).
       Looking
       into the code, I found out that there was a big potential to
       enhance the charset implementation in performance and footprint. At
       that time, almost 20% (~7MB) of the Java runtime footprint was occupied
       by the charset coding implementation. In theory, it could be reduced to
       ~1MB, and performance enhanced significantly by up to five times. I'm
       still working on this.</p><p>
     </p>
     <h2>As a <a href="http://qa.netbeans.org/processes/cat/68/index.html">NetCAT</a> participant you experienced
       <a href="https://netbeans.org/community/releases/68/">NetBeans 6.8</a> before the masses did. Your thoughts on the new features and the
       quality?<br>
     </h2>
     <div style="padding: 10pt 10pt 10px 10px; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 255); width: 190px; float: right; font-size: 100%;">
       <div style="font-weight: bold;">Ulf Zibis<br>
       </div>
       <div style="font-size: 90%;">Location: Cologne, Germany<br>
         <br>
         <span style="font-weight: bold;">Projects</span><br>
         <a href="http://jdbc-odbc-enhanced.dev.java.net/">jdbc-odbc-enhanced</a><br>
         <a href="http://java-nio-charset-enhanced.dev.java.net/">java-nio-charset-enhanced</a><br>
         <br>
         <span style="font-weight: bold;">NetCAT 6.8 Stats</span><br>
         Bugs Filed: 55<br>
         RFEs Filed: 9<br>
         Emails Sent: 92<br>
         Total NetCAT Points: 330<br>
         <a href="http://qa.netbeans.org/processes/cat/68/activity.html">NetCAT 6.8 Activity Log</a><br>
         <br>
         <span style="font-style: italic;">More NetCAT 6.8 Spotlights:</span><br>
         <a href="https://netbeans.org/community/articles/interviews/netcat68-eric-smith.html">Eric Smith</a>, <a href="https://netbeans.org/community/articles/interviews/netcat68-michel-graciano.html">Michel Graciano</a><br>
       </div>
     </div>
     Because I worked mostly on very low-level code, I won't comment on the
     big features. But in NetBeans 6.8 I saw steady enhancements in
     usability and flexibility of the basics. 6.8 is the first release in
     which I could develop and debug JDK 7 library code inside the
     IDE, using standard Java project without the need for too many half-baked tricks. Also,
     performance increased, and I think 6.8 is the most stable release we've
     ever had.<br>
     <br>
     However, I still think the "Compile-on-Save" feature has a troublesome naming for new users.
     This caused many heated discussions during the testing program. As the NetBeans IDE always
     compiles the code immediately and not only after save, I prefer a name such as "Smart-Deploy". (See NetBeans Forum thread: <a href="http://forums.netbeans.org/viewtopic.php?t=10903&amp;highlight=rethinking+cos+again">Rethinking CoS
       again</a>.)
     Additionally,
     there are still pending standard editor
     capabilities such as better search/replacement handling,
     column-oriented block editing/pasting, <a href="https://netbeans.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=46020">one-hand-mouse-copy</a>, or
     offset-diff
     inside same file; some context menus could be enriched and
     additional tools such as javap and JDK make&nbsp;
     integrated.<br>
     <p>
     </p>
     <h2>Have you participated in other software Beta testing programs? Can you compare them to NetCAT?<br>
     </h2>
     Rarely. I've been a NetCAT member since version 4.1, and
     I can't think of anywhere else where there is a better response and contribution about bugs and RFEs
     than from the NetCAT team. I'm highly involved in
     JDK 7 development, and I can say that the work flow for that is much harder. &nbsp;
     <p>
     </p>
     <h2>What
       motivates you to contribute to the NetBeans
       project?<br>
     </h2>
     <ul>
       <li>
         If I'm missing certain features participating in the NetCAT program gives me the chance to have them in future releases.</li>
       <li>Knowledge sharing with the experts.</li>
       <li>
         Benefiting from new features before releases.</li>
       <li>
         Participating in the community.</li>
       <li>
         Fun.</li>
       <li>
         Free T-Shirts!</li>
     </ul>
     <p>
     </p>
     <h2>How would you encourage other users to participate in future NetCAT cycles?<br>
     </h2>
     <ul>
       <li>
         You will get a deeper understanding of how NetBeans works, as well as experience in professional software development.</li>
       <li>
         You can leave your mark on the IDE: Many of your development needs stand a good chance of becoming part of the release build.</li>
       <li>You
         will learn more about Java and other advanced features of the IDE, as
         well as get free support from the NetBeans team and fellow NetCAT
         participants.<br>
       </li>
     </ul>
   </body>
 </html>
	<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
	<html><head>
	<meta http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
	<title>NetBeans 6.8 Community Tester Ulf Zibis</title>
	<meta name="AUTHOR" content="Tinuola Awopetu">
	<meta name="description" content="Ulf Zibis, a NetBeans 6.8 community tester, explains how participating in NetBeans' Beta testing program helps his development needs.">
	<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../../netbeans.css">
	</head>
	<body>
	<h1>Meet the Top Community Testers for NetBeans 6.8</h1>
	<span style="font-style: italic;">January 2010</span><br>
	<h4>Ulf Zibis: Six Advantages of Being a NetBeans Beta Tester <br>
	</h4>
	<span style="font-style: italic;"><br>
	</span>
	<h2>Tell us about your background as a developer and NetBeans user.<br>
	</h2>
	<img src="../../../images_www/articles/interviews/ulf-zibis.png" alt="Ulf Zibis - NetCAT 6.8 Participant" style="width: 150px; height: 201px;" align="left" hspace="5" vspace="2">I
	started with the KAWA editor in 1999. My first IDE was Sun's
	Forte; then replaced by Sun Studio and then later the NetBeans IDE.
	Intermittently, I tried Eclipse, but I didn't see any advantages for
	me. For example, it lacked the Mobility and GUI Builder capabilities of
	NetBeans.<br>
	<br>
	<p>My interests: I've been hacking at the JDK code for a long time. It started with
	finding and fixing several bugs in the JDBC-ODBC driver because I
	wanted to integrate a simple object oriented interface (<a href="http://jdbc-odbc-enhanced.dev.java.net/">jdbc-odbc-enhanced</a>).
	While bug fixing, I stumbled across a performance leak caused by
	the inability of the java.nio.charset API to handle zero-terminated
	native strings efficiently. So I thought about adding such an ability
	to this API (<a href="http://java-nio-charset-enhanced.dev.java.net/">java-nio-charset-enhanced</a>).
	Looking
	into the code, I found out that there was a big potential to
	enhance the charset implementation in performance and footprint. At
	that time, almost 20% (~7MB) of the Java runtime footprint was occupied
	by the charset coding implementation. In theory, it could be reduced to
	~1MB, and performance enhanced significantly by up to five times. I'm
	still working on this.</p><p>
	</p>
	<h2>As a <a href="http://qa.netbeans.org/processes/cat/68/index.html">NetCAT</a> participant you experienced
	<a href="https://netbeans.org/community/releases/68/">NetBeans 6.8</a> before the masses did. Your thoughts on the new features and the
	quality?<br>
	</h2>
	<div style="padding: 10pt 10pt 10px 10px; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 255); width: 190px; float: right; font-size: 100%;">
	<div style="font-weight: bold;">Ulf Zibis<br>
	</div>
	<div style="font-size: 90%;">Location: Cologne, Germany<br>
	<br>
	<span style="font-weight: bold;">Projects</span><br>
	<a href="http://jdbc-odbc-enhanced.dev.java.net/">jdbc-odbc-enhanced</a><br>
	<a href="http://java-nio-charset-enhanced.dev.java.net/">java-nio-charset-enhanced</a><br>
	<br>
	<span style="font-weight: bold;">NetCAT 6.8 Stats</span><br>
	Bugs Filed: 55<br>
	RFEs Filed: 9<br>
	Emails Sent: 92<br>
	Total NetCAT Points: 330<br>
	<a href="http://qa.netbeans.org/processes/cat/68/activity.html">NetCAT 6.8 Activity Log</a><br>
	<br>
	<span style="font-style: italic;">More NetCAT 6.8 Spotlights:</span><br>
	<a href="https://netbeans.org/community/articles/interviews/netcat68-eric-smith.html">Eric Smith</a>, <a href="https://netbeans.org/community/articles/interviews/netcat68-michel-graciano.html">Michel Graciano</a><br>
	</div>
	</div>
	Because I worked mostly on very low-level code, I won't comment on the
	big features. But in NetBeans 6.8 I saw steady enhancements in
	usability and flexibility of the basics. 6.8 is the first release in
	which I could develop and debug JDK 7 library code inside the
	IDE, using standard Java project without the need for too many half-baked tricks. Also,
	performance increased, and I think 6.8 is the most stable release we've
	ever had.<br>
	<br>
	However, I still think the "Compile-on-Save" feature has a troublesome naming for new users.
	This caused many heated discussions during the testing program. As the NetBeans IDE always
	compiles the code immediately and not only after save, I prefer a name such as "Smart-Deploy". (See NetBeans Forum thread: <a href="http://forums.netbeans.org/viewtopic.php?t=10903&highlight=rethinking+cos+again">Rethinking CoS
	again</a>.)
	Additionally,
	there are still pending standard editor
	capabilities such as better search/replacement handling,
	column-oriented block editing/pasting, <a href="https://netbeans.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=46020">one-hand-mouse-copy</a>, or
	offset-diff
	inside same file; some context menus could be enriched and
	additional tools such as javap and JDK make
	integrated.<br>
	<p>
	</p>
	<h2>Have you participated in other software Beta testing programs? Can you compare them to NetCAT?<br>
	</h2>
	Rarely. I've been a NetCAT member since version 4.1, and
	I can't think of anywhere else where there is a better response and contribution about bugs and RFEs
	than from the NetCAT team. I'm highly involved in
	JDK 7 development, and I can say that the work flow for that is much harder.
	<p>
	</p>
	<h2>What
	motivates you to contribute to the NetBeans
	project?<br>
	</h2>
	<ul>
	<li>
	If I'm missing certain features participating in the NetCAT program gives me the chance to have them in future releases.</li>
	<li>Knowledge sharing with the experts.</li>
	<li>
	Benefiting from new features before releases.</li>
	<li>
	Participating in the community.</li>
	<li>
	Fun.</li>
	<li>
	Free T-Shirts!</li>
	</ul>
	<p>
	</p>
	<h2>How would you encourage other users to participate in future NetCAT cycles?<br>
	</h2>
	<ul>
	<li>
	You will get a deeper understanding of how NetBeans works, as well as experience in professional software development.</li>
	<li>
	You can leave your mark on the IDE: Many of your development needs stand a good chance of becoming part of the release build.</li>
	<li>You
	will learn more about Java and other advanced features of the IDE, as
	well as get free support from the NetBeans team and fellow NetCAT
	participants.<br>
	</li>
	</ul>
	</body>
	</html>