J2EE stands for Java 2 Enterprise Edition. It defines the standard for developing multi-tier enterprise applications. The J2EE bases on the J2SE (Java 2 Standard Edition) and takes advantage of many features of J2SE. It then adds support for EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans) components, Java Servlets API, JavaServer Pages and XML technology. More recently, the J2EE adds specification that supports the development of web services.

The following are some starting points for you to study more and deeper about J2EE.

1. J2EE Technology Website (Sun Developers Home > Products & Technologies > Java Technology > J2EE.)
2. J2EE 1.4 Specification (PDF file)
3. The J2EE 1.4 Tutorial (for Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 8 2004Q4 Beta)
4. Developing Enterprise Applications Using the J2EE Platform. It is a tutorial from Sun Developer Network Community.
5. Mastering Enterprise Java Beans (2nd edn.) by Roman, Ambler and Jewell. The book has free PDF and source code available.

The following are three great sites I found about the topic.

Huston Design Patterns. It contains demos and examples (in C++ and Java) to explain various design patterns. A good resource for learning by example.

The Design Patterns Java Companion is a free online book on Java Design Patterns. The author, James W. Cooper, is a Research Staff Member in the Information Retrieval and Analysis group of IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center. The book was published in 1998 and 218 pages in length.

Design Patterns, a Java resource from cs.rice.edu. The pattern discussions, except for the Null and Model-View-Controller patterns are adapted from the classic text, Design Patterns by Gamma, Helm, Johnson and Vlissides (Addison Wesley Longman, 1995. ISBN 0-201-63361-2)

Design patterns form a cohesive language that can be used to describe classic solutions to common object oriented design problems. These patterns enable us to discuss systems of objects as quasi-encapsulated entities. By using design patterns to solve programming problems, the proper perspective on the design process can be maintained.

Java is emerging as the language of choice for processing XML. XML and Java are the perfect pair. They complement each other so well. XML contributes platform-independent data. Java contributes platform-independent processing. Both XML and Java are Internet friendly. XML was designed to be an optimized, flexible, readable format; Java has been network-aware from the beginning in its development. Although there are many XML tools and libraries based on other languages such as Python, perl, and C, the majority of XML development is focused on Java.

The following are some suggested readings for you. Enjoy.

1. XML, Java, and the future of the Web (Written by Jon Bosak of Sun Microsystems in Oct 3 1997)
2. XML representation of a relational database (Last modified:1997/07/11)
3. XML Matters: Putting XML in context with hierarchical, relational, and object-oriented models (Written by David Mertz of IBM in April 1 2001)

I came across this term when I looked at the vacancies in faculty appointments of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University. In the Wikipedia someone wrote that it is a collection of new techniques in computer science that includes fuzzy logic, neural networks, and probabilistic reasoning. If soft computing is a new term, then conventional computing must
be termed as hard computing. Yes, I get it!

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As far as I know when I search the Internet for this information, in Singapore there are 3 universities, 5 polytechnics, and several institutes and colleges in post-secondary education. All of them have a professional web site and present information well. Have a visit at them if you are interested.

University:

• Nanyang Technological University
• National University of Singapore
• Singapore Management University

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Software agents can be defined in a number of different ways depending on the functions under consideration. In a simple term, software agents can be regarded as computational autonomous entities that are capable of sensing (such as acquiring data) and acting (such as producing and sending information) in an environment (such as a course Web server) to accomplish a set of designated goals. The following is a list of websites that I find useful for learning more research on software agents.

• AgentLink: Europe’s network of excellence for agent-based computing
• Intelligent Software Agent Labs at Carnegie Mellon University
• UMBC Agent Web. A collection of items that offer an introduction or overview of key agent-related concepts and technologies.
• MIT Media Lab - Software Agent Group
• The Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA). FIPA is a non-profit organisation aimed at producing standards for the interoperation of heterogeneous software agents