News

ZeroTurnaround Launches Resource Site for Java Community

• By John K. Waters
• January 14, 2013

Java toolmaker ZeroTurnaround this week launched Rebel Labs, a new "research and content organization" site through which the company plans to offer free, vendor-neutral reports and other technical resources for the Java community.

The company published six reports in 2012 on subjects ranging from implementing Continuous Delivery (CI) using commonly available tools to the best ways to utilize the Scala multi-paradigm programming language in a Java organization -- including an interview with Scala's creator, Martin Odersky. 

"We're bringing the information together in a way that's highly digestible for multiple levels of expertise," Rebel Lab's Oliver White told ADTmag. "Every report is going to have code in it. Every report is going to walk people through things like installing a new CI server, or manipulating Java byte code, or learning how class loaders can really screw up your day. But they'll also be broken down with an intro section, so that a busy exec can read the first page and decide whether it's important enough to follow up."

The content provided on the site will be timely and "meaty" enough that anyone can sink their teeth into it, White promised.

Tartu, Estonia-based ZeroTurnaround is best known for its JRebel plugin for the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The plugin is designed to integrate with the JVM and app servers on the class loader level, so it doesn't create new class loaders, but extends existing ones. The company claims that it saves developers big chunks of their coding time by removing the build and redeploy process and allowing them to see changes made to their code in their development application instantly. The latest version of the plugin, released in October, supports IBM's lightweight WAS runtime for the cloud, known as the Liberty Profile.

"Technology is constantly changing," the company's founder and CEO, Jevgeni Kabanov, said in a statement. "We want to challenge the status quo by creating discussion and offering our perspective on the topics that matter most to the IT community, not only what is most important to ZeroTurnaround and its customers. As a technology neutral company, Rebel Labs intends to provide the industry with helpful, objective content for professionals who want to learn, debate and grow."

The new Rebel Labs Web site is up and running now.