Hi all,

I'm new to Hibernate and have limited experience with Java, though I
have many years of software development experience using many
different languages.

I am currently developing a client server app. for managing website
content using MySQL as the backend.

I want, for both business reasons and self-interest in terms of reskilling,
to use Java/MySql as my development platform.

For weeks now I have been searching Google for information on how to
go about this, eg. what IDE to use, how to got a java app talking to a
mysql db etc. and have found many, many sources of information on
toolsets and technologies available.

Too many in fact. To the point that I am now more confused than ever
about the path that I should be taking.

Here's what I've done so far.

- Got MySql up and running and have a db in place.
- Downloaded and installed the Eclipse IDE for Java.
- Downloaded and installed the core Hibernate libraries.
- Followed the Hibernate examples and gotten a basic java app talking to
MySQL using the Hibernate interface.


But this is where I bog down.

With all the tools/plugins/models available I'm now at a crossroads.
Hibernate, Eclipse, Ant plugins, Hibernate plugins for eclipse, MyEclipse,
Jboss, SEAMS, J2EE, and a myriad other frameworks/methodolgies/toolsets exist,
including various combinations of utilties within each one.

Having been swamped with options, and unable to wade through all of
documentation for all of the above... I was wondering someone who may
have gone down this road before could offer some advice about what an
appropriate development environment should include to achieve the
above outcome.

As stated... I've about googled this thing to death so any advice here would be appreciated.

Any thoughts ?


cheers,
Matt.

--
________________________________________
Matthew Pegg
Systems Engineer

Abacus Business Machines
Ballarat, Australia.
________________________________________

I would recommend focusing a bit. Try not to look so much at the big picture but rather try accomplishing a few small tasks and building on them.

In regards to hibernate, sounds like the hibernate notebook from o'reilly might help:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hi ... gle+Search

They go thru a whole simple use case (cd collection IIRC) from start to finish using mysql or hsldb . This book is available in chm / pdf . The notebook series in general might be helpful in your case.

To combine eclipse and hibernate (plus Spring) perhaps this book may help:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=& ... tnG=Search

Also try hibernate in action ... new book by the same authors comming out via manning in a few days. Also available in pdf.

HTH,
Robert

You absolutely need to simplify and focus on what you're trying to do. One thing that Java has is lots of choices. These can be used to greatly increase your productivity if you apply them correctly, but the down side to that is newbies can easily come up to speed on the vastness of Java quickly. It's a double edge sword in many respects.

I think it's important for newbies to understand that they will grow into understanding it, and not worry about knowing all that stuff at the onset. Sounds like you've done a lot of homework and discovery which is very good.

Right now let's just talk about your requirements, and not worry about some of the more exotic pieces you can choose. Just from your mail I can determine some of where you should be focusing.

In your email you said a client server application for managing a website. Do you still believe it will be a client server application? Or are you shifting to using a web based approach. It sounds like you're willing to donate the time to rewriting your application if you're shifting to Java. I would recommend you consider using a web based approach. I've been doing Swing for 7 years now, and it's a lot to learn. Front end tool kits can be a bear to learn, and it will take 6+ months to be profficient in using them. Hibernate is a lot to learn in and of itself, that plus swing is a tall order. Web based apps are a little easier I think. Plus a significant amount of code exists for Java around the web where Swing is much much smaller.

In either case I would not recommend using J2EE. If you don't have to integrate with legacy systems (not legacy DB, but applications), or do messaging, etc. I would not look at J2EE. SEAM is in the same boat.
If you just have a simple website with a database. I would suggest just using Tomcat or Jetty as your platform and forget J2EE.

1. You need a DB: MySQL
2. You need a ORM layer: Hibernate
3. You need an IDE: Eclipse or MyEclipse
4. You need a build tool: Ant
5. You need a web server: Tomcat or Jetty

Start there and accept technology has you have a need for it. Once you get comfortable with your stack you can begin to accept more pieces. But eating that elephant all at once is too much for anyone. If you end up doing swing I can offer some more advice in that area.

Charlie