Example of minimal Apache CXF2 web services deployment

We had a requirement to add a web service to allow our partners to upload their events to our Calendar. Rather than spin up an entirely new application to handle this, we wanted to embed a very simple web service into the existing application. We wanted this to be very light weight and easy to implement.

I had used Apache Axis in the past so I decided to look into that first. To get a sample Axis2 application working (http://www.eclipse.org/webtools/community/tutorials/BottomUpAxis2WebService/bu_tutorial.html) with one simple class representing a single web service operation it created an 11MB package, dirty folder structure, admin pages to add more services, etc. Essentially a full blown web service server with admin options. I did NOT need this and it seems a little bulky. I tried to delete some of the /WEB-INF/lib JAR files but it was not obvious what was required and what wasn’t. I tried deleting the /axis2-web folder but that made it unusable. Not to mention all the config files required/generated. Let’s try something else…

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Codeswarm visual for software projects

I was installing SVN on my work PC when I noticed that CollabNet had a video of their SVN submission history. The video demonstrated a moving timeline with a developer’s name surrounded by the files they commit in a sort of firework display. The project called code_swarm (http://code.google.com/p/codeswarm/) is a Java project that parses out source control server history and creates these displays in a processed window. After trying the program out I thought that it would be a fantastic tool to encourage developers to commit small and commit often to “see their name in lights”. As an Agile Programming lover, the concept of continuous integration immediately came to mind and I know that this is a hard concept to get developers to buy into.

I was so impressed with this project that I decided to join it to contribute any way that I can. Everyone should take a look at the Subversion, Apache, and Eclipse codeswarm videos….really nifty.