"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." (Alan Kay)
Sometime, some people tends to overlook a critical element of the Java ecosystem, i.e. the Java Community Process. The JCP is the mechanism for developing standard technical specifications for Java technology. The JCP is clearly one of the key pillar of the whole Java ecosystem.
Heather VanCura who manages the JCP Program Office has recently done a presentation at the Israel JUG. Heather's slide deck (see here) is really a useful ressource as it answers a lot of JCP related questions, it's almost a "FAQ on slides".
In her slides, Heather addresses questions such as :
- What is the Executive Committee? How it operates?
- The different levels of participation
- The different roles within the JCP
- The different deliverables of an Expert Group
- What has the JCP done to be as open as possible?
- How the JCP is evolving ("JCP.next")?
- ...
And more importantly, it also explain why you should get involved in the JCP. Being involved in the JCP, at any level, allows anyone to define the future of Java!