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Oracle lists more than 200 new features in WebLogic 12c - unfortunately, I don’t get to use them.

The improvements fall in two main categories:

• Management, Performance and High Availability (HA)
• Java EE 6

As a developer, management and high availability is “somebody else’s problem” - I appreciate the work my app server admin does, but it doesn’t affect the code I write to meet business needs. I welcome performance improvements as much as the next guy - but I want them to be transparent and not force me to code for a specific performance feature of a specific app server.

I would really like to be able to utilize the new features in JEE6, but for the time being, this is restricted to “pure” Java programming. As an Oracle Fusion Middleware developer using various parts of the FMW stack, I will have to wait for my beloved Application Development Framework to be supported on WebLogic 12c. I hope the wait will be short!

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After two days of ACE Director briefings at Oracle HQ, I’m starting the conference today with a presentation in the very first slot: 9.00 am in Moscone West room 2000. My topic is “Starting an Enterprise Oracle ADF Project”, and it covers the material in my book (slightly abbreviated - 60 minutes can really cover the same as 400 pages).

All of Sunday, there’s going to be presentations by members of the ADF Enterprise Methodology Group in room 2000 - if you’re interested in Oracle ADF, this is the place to be.

I thought this would be a dull year at OpenWorld, but after the confidential briefings last week, I have had to change my mind. Since I’m under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (maybe the lawyers do run Oracle…), I can’t share any information right now - but do follow the blogs and announcements from Oracle this week.

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I’m just back from the ODTUG Kscope11 conference in Long Beach, where I presented my regular tools overview presentation, a WebCenter session, an enterprise ADF development session and an ADF tuning session as well as various panels.

One thing I noticed very clearly is that almost all the non-Oracle presenters in the Fusion Middleware track were from outside the U.S. For example, the Lunch and Learn panel on Fusion Middleware consisted of

• Guido Schmutz (ACE Director, Switzerland)
• Sten Vesterli (ACE Director, Denmark)
• Ronald van Luttikhuizen (ACE Director, Netherlands)
• Chris Muir (ACE Director, Australia)

In Scott/Tiger, we are busy with ADF development, and I know from my ACE Director friends in Europe that they are also working on ADF and SOA projects.
Is nobody in the U.S. actually using Fusion Middleware? Or are they just not talking about it?

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The important discussion where to use APEX and where to use ADF tends to get bogged down in an unproductive argument about the relative merits of PL/SQL or Java. However, this is not really the most important factor that should drive your decision.

Instead, you must first determine if your application is

• Data-driven, or
• User interface driven

A data-driven application is one where the data structure determines the user interface. Existing Oracle Forms applications tend to fall into this category, and if you only want to do a one-to-one replacement of a Forms application, the wizard-driven, browser-based approach of APEX works well.

A user interface driven application is one that starts from a set of requirements to support a work process. This is typically the case for new application development, or where an existing Oracle Forms application is being redesigned. User interface driven applications are typically specified with detailed screen designs that are easier to implement with the flexible architecture of ADF.

If you are in Norway for the OUGN spring conference, you can hear me talk on this topic in the presentation called “APEX or ADF? From Requirements to Tool Choice”.

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Oracle Fusion Applications!

It’s been “announced” at OpenWorld 2009 and again in 2010, and we have seen demos and screenshots - now is the time for Oracle to deliver. I want to see real-life Oracle Fusion Applications installations, so we can really have a look at how Oracle is building a serious enterprise application with ADF - I’m sure there are lessons to learn.

Additionally, I would really like Oracle to offer a “Fusion Applications Services” license - just the engine, not the UI. That would allow me to use the rock-solid data model and services, but put together a custom application on top. If the engine license was reasonably priced, we Oracle partners could start breaking into the middle market with vertical solutions to compete with SAP. But Oracle is very much an enterprise software company selling big bundles to big companies, so I’m not holding my breath…

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The ADF framework has improved dramatically over the years, but mysteriously, it remains a niche product outside a select circle of Oracle enthusiasts. If you look at the Google Trends graph for the last couple of years (below), you see Forms slowly declining and APEX is slowing climbing at about the same rate. And far below both of these, you find ADF flatlined.

It seems that ADF is stuck in the no-mands-land where Oracle products suffer a slow death - not free, but too cheap for the Oracle salesforce to bother with.

It’s too bad - ADF 11g is a great product, and Oracle would do the world a big favor by setting ADF free (Oracle Mix, free oracle.com account required).

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I’m honored and proud to have received the ODTUG Best Speaker Award (Presentation and Delivery) at the ODTUG Kaleidoscope 2010 conference for my presentation “What’s Hot and What’s Not - an overview of Oracle Development Tools”. Because this award is based on audience feedback, the award is actually awarded for my 2009 presentation.I gave the presentation again this year, and the slides are now available for download (What’s Hot and What’s Not). I have also uploaded the slides for my presentations “Forms to ADF - Live!” and “Forms to APEX - Live!“. There are only a few slides for these, as they were mainly given in the form of live demo.

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On one of the ODTUG mailing lists, we had a discussion about the cost of running ADF, so I thought I’d share the numbers I came up with.

The April technology price list shows:

• A pure TopLink and ADF license for $5800 per CPU. You can run this on any server - unfortunately, ADF 11g is only supported on Weblogic…
• Internet Application Server Standard Edition One for the same $5800 per CPU.

Interestingly, the Oracle Application Server includes something called WebLogic Server Basic (aka “The Secret WebLogic License”). Careful reading of the Oracle Fusion Middleware Licensing 11g manual will uncover the statement "When Oracle Internet Application Server is licensed independently of WebLogic Suite, a constrained WebLogic license, called WebLogic Server Basic, is included". You’ll find a description of this in Appendix A of the Licensing manual. While the restrictions do take away most of what makes WebLogic great, the basic JEE application server functionality remains - and ADF is not excluded.

Quick! Buy now, before the licensing rules change!

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I’ll be speaking at the Oracle User Group Norway Spring Conference, April 14 to 16. This great conference takes place on a cruise ship sailing from Oslo to Kiel and back. My topics will be

• What’s Hot and What’s Not - An Overview of Oracle Development Tools
• Forms to ADF - Live!

They’ve lined up an impressively international speaker list, including Dan Morgan, Debra Lilley and Sue Harper - and me, of course …

See you in Oslo!

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The third thing I wish for from Oracle in 2010 is a free ADF runtime license. I believe that the current licensing is limiting ADF to existing Oracle enterprise customers, and that’s too bad.

I am not looking for Oracle to make ADF Open Source - but just to get the option to legally run ADF applications on Glassfish (and possibly JBoss and others). Support should be forum-based (like for Oracle XE).

This has several benefits:

• Universities could teach ADF (it’s full of brilliant code and design patterns) in the knowledge that students could use it outside the closed Oracle world.
• The thousands of capable developers in China, India, Phillipines and elsewhere, who are currently using Open Source solely for cost reasons, could pick up this brilliant tool.

It would not cannibalize existing revenue, as enterprise customers would still want to buy a support contract. But it would translate into both a wider ADF developer skills base and additional license revenue for Oracle as these customers eventually buy a support contract or upgrade to WebLogic.

Oracle is sitting on an unrecognized jewel while Java developers all over the world are wasting time with a plethora of much less capable frameworks. Help the world build better apps faster - set ADF Free!

Please vote for this idea on Oracle Mix.

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