News

• July Spring and Swing courses full - new August dates ...
• jWeeekend wins training contract with shipping giant ...
• Al Maw sets up our London Wicket Google code site ...
• Stronger links with top opensource specialists Zenika ...
• New JPA course gets excellent review (testimonials page soon) ...
• Google to host our next London Wicket Event ...
• Deal with Manning to supply MEAPs to students/event delegates ...
• More online student reviews ...
• Next London Wicket Event - 5 September ...
• Al Maw, Matt & I introduce Wicket at Java WUG ...
• jWeekend.com goes live with Google Checkout ...
• Apache Wicket 1.3 moved to 21-22 July ...
• Next London Wicket Event ...
• London Wicket User Group - schedule finalised
• Introduction to Apache Wicket 1.3 - progress ...
• Official Registration Form ...
• London Wicket User Group - Registration Form ...
• TheServerSide.com: balanced views on Wicket ...
• Al Maw on Introduction to Apache Wicket 1.3 ...
• London Wicket Users Group venue decided ...
• Apache Wicket: Incubation Over ...
• London Wicket User Group ...

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Details shortly. top

The new jWeeekend.co.uk site is now open for business. We have integrated Google Checkout on our booking page so students can easily register for courses online. We'd like to thank those of you who have been patiently holding on for this feature. We hope you like our booking page's subtle use of Ajax with Wicket. top

Interest is finally building up in our new Introduction to Apache Wicket 1.3 course, and, from all over Europe. We are working hard to keep the site and everybody interested in coming along up to date as Al and I complete our work on the course material. It's looking like another very nice course albeit pretty intensive. With some people planning trips from Europe, we are able to make the switch (back a week to 21-22 July), that suits everybody involved better. top

I have posted some information about our very successful 1st Wicket Users Group event last night and proposed 7th August, 2007 as the date for our next meeting. top

As posted:

• 18:30 Pizza.
• 19:00 Cemal Bayramoglu - Welcome, schedule.
• 19:05 Alastair Maw - Introduction to Wicket, "Hello World".
• 19:20 Cemal - Setting up QuickStart for Wicket 1.3 beta 2. A simple booking page.
• 20:00 Alastair- Building reusable components. A quick look at Spring and Google Maps integration.
• 21:00 Matt Dudbridge- Building zoomf.com.
• 22:00 Alastair, Matt & Cemal - Q & A.
• 22:15 Last orders at the pub.

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It has been very easy working with Alastair Maw on the development of the material and labs as we seem to have a similar vision for the standards the course must meet and the tangible benefits, experience and knowledge students will enjoy. Al has made some nice suggestions for additional material, including some slightly more advanced stuff which he will cover at the end of day 2. This promises to be a fantasic and challenging, cram-packed 2 days and I'm glad Al will be taking all of the 2nd day for this, our first airing of the new material. Even though the course will begin at an introductory (quickstart) level as the title suggests, by the end of the course, we will have covered most of the things developers need to understand and be able to do for development of fully featured web-sites/apps. Keep an eye on the course page if you are interested in a weekend of intensive Wicket, as we will be updating it to reflect our new format and fine-tuning the detail over the days ahead. top

We now also have a dedicated site for the London Wicket User Group (thanks Al), also built on Wicket and showing off a few more features like the Google maps contrib. You can register at londonwicket.org for the first London Wicket User Group meeting on July 3rd. top

You can now register here for the first London Wicket User Group meeting on July 3rd. top

TheServerSide.com has announced the graduation of Apache Wicket. The commentary to date has been extremely balanced and favourable. People who have taken enough time to compare it with other popular frameworks seem to be very appreciative of the Wicket team's work and the vibrant community's help. It looks like there is a fast growing band of developers with positive experiences and things to say. top

Alastair Maw has agreed to work with us on the development of jWeekend's Introduction to Apache Wicket 1.3, to be held on July 14-15. We have decided to move up to version 1.3 (a release candidate is due within a couple of weeks). He will also be delivering the second half of the course (July 15). Al is a key developer on the Apache Wicket. project, and anyone who has read his blog or been on the Wicket forum will be aware of his expertise and his ability to share knowledge. Contact us for more details. top

Matt Dudbridge, who says he had a good time with Wicket working on the impressive zoomf.com site, has very kindly offered to host the first London Wicket Users Group at his office at 1, Alie Street, close to Aldgate tube. We can now host up to 20 people. Matt will be giving a presentation. Al Maw from the Wicket team and I will be persenting some material too, so it looks like we're in for a lively evening.

Wicket has graduated! Congratualations to the Wicket team for reaching this important milestone. This achievement can only boost Wicket's popularity and should introduce new developers to the best java web framework there is right now. top

I met Al Maw last week to discuss the possibility of starting a London Wicket Users Group. The first meeting will take place on July 3rd. See Al's blog entry and his post to the mailing-list if you'd like to register your interest. It looks like we will have 2 or 3 speakers, with various levels of Wicket knowledge, and time for a drink. I suspect that places will be limited as it's hard to guage demand for a first session (about 10 delegates so far) and the location has to be fixed soon, so put your name down early. I hope we can make this a regular, maybe monthly, event. top

Java technology scheduled training

• Java Persistence API: Intensive JPA Quickstart
  Sep17(Wed) Sep20(Sat)
• Spring 2 Fundamentals
  Sep18-19(Thu-Fri)
• Apache Wicket
  Sep13-14(Sat-Sun)
• Swing For Java Developers
  Sep10-11(Wed-Thu)
• Apache Wicket Quickstart
  Sep21(Sun)
• OO Design with UML for Java Developers
  Sep15-16(Mon-Tue)
• The Java Programming Language (SCJP)
  Sep8-9(Mon-Tue)

Coming soon

Spring 2 Workshop Apache Wicket Workshop

What people are saying

• George Kerley, PhD, P&O Ferries
  these jWeekend courses have raised the bar for trainers everywhere.
  " It's a pleasure to attend training courses (Swing 2-day and Spring 2-day) that do more than survey the ground and jump through the hoops. Challenging, stimulating and informative, these jWeekend courses have raised the bar for trainers everywhere."
• Gary S Mann
  an excellent introduction to JPA
  "The course was an excellent introduction to JPA. I was impressed by Cemal's knowledge of and enthusiasm for the subject. Within two weeks, I have been able to join an exciting new project which makes use of the technolgies taught on the course."
• Richard Levy, P&O Ferries
  I would definitely recommend jWeekend.
  "Both the Swing & Spring courses were weighted very well for a mixed-experience class and our instructor was happy to tailor the course to our needs. I would definitely recommend jWeekend."
• Uwe Schaefer, Thomas Daily, Germany
  If you start using Wicket for real, this course is a real timesaver
  "... taking this course was a great experience. Al and Cemal are very nice people, the material is great and what you get is definately worth the bucks and time. If you start using Wicket for real, this course is a real timesaver."
• Chris Martin, P&O Ferries
  The 2-day Swing course was informative and brilliantly paced
  "The 2-day Swing course was informative and brilliantly paced, despite the mixed knowledge of the various participants. The instructor had excellent knowledge of the subject and was willing and able to answer any questions thrown at him. This included subjects only loosely related to the subject matter (such as Design Patterns and Threads in general.) All in all, a recommended course for anyone using Swing."
• Lawernce Blomfield, P&O Ferries
  Thanks for an excellent course
  "Thanks for an excellent course on Swing. It was well delivered and suited both beginners and the more experienced. The tutor demonstrated excellent knowledge. Recomended."
• Ian Godman, 3B Workshop
  A lot of value and fun too!
  "The course was given by Al Maw who is an excellent presenter ... A lot of value and fun too! Can't think of a better way to spend a wet weekend!!"
• Russell Web, inniu
  The 2-day course on Apache Wicket was a great introduction to the framework
  "The 2-day course on Apache Wicket was a great introduction to the framework. The content was well laid out with each module advancing in logical progression. The corresponding practical tutorials reflected this building a good comprehension of wicket fundamentals. I was also impressed with the enthusiasm of Al and Cemal who not only expressed themselves eloquently but also took pains to ensure everyone kept up and encouraged open discussion on related topics time allowing. A very educating and enjoyable day, thanks guys!"
• Mike Cripps, Wicket Developer
  of a high standard and very enjoyable
  " Just to say thanks for organising the talks last night (4th June) - they were all of a high standard and very enjoyable. "
• Vladislav Sushko, Proxim-IT, UK
  a clear and in-depth introduction to Apache Wicket
  "I would like to say thanks to both of you for a clear and in-depth introduction to Apache Wicket. It has been an enjoyable and challenging jWeekeend experience."
• Karen Low, 3B Workshop, Malaysia
  Definitely something that you might want to go for if you're looking for a wicket training
  "I enjoyed the training, moreover, I've gained the knowledge that could help me get started in using wicket. Definitely something that you might want to go for if you're looking for a wicket training."
• Ioannis Mavroukakis
  the atmosphere was extremely friendly and the content was very enlightening
  " ... just wanted to drop you a quick email to say how much I enjoyed the last event, the atmosphere was extremely friendly and the content was very enlightening especially for a newbie like myself!"
• Oli Evans Proxim-IT, UK the Wicket course was exactly what we were looking for

  "Thanks for an interesting and productive weekend. I felt the Wicket course was exactly what we were looking for and had a good balance between presentations, discussion and hands on tinkering. Even though our group came from radically different development backgrounds I think everyone came away with a useful understanding of the framework. Al has a clear presentation style and you both successfully fielded queries from beginners, experienced wicketeers, and talented web developers used to other ways of doing things... i doff my cap to you."
• Morten Steffensen, Emercos, Denmark
  It is amazing how much you can learn in just 2 days!
  " A subcontractor had recommended the Apache Wicket course arranged by JWeekend, I finally found the time to participate March 21-22. Alastair and Cemal did a very good job at teaching Wicket with lots of hands-on tutorials. It is amazing how much you can learn in just 2 days! My ideal web stack is now wicket/spring/jpa/hibernate and I feel very efficient :)"
• Carl Azoury, Co-Director, Zenika, France (Training Partner)
  we look forward to growing our training partnership with jWeekend alongside those with Interface21
  "... as we have worked with Cemal on high profile development projects, and we look forward to growing our training partnership with jWeekend alongside those with Interface21 [now SpringSource] and other established partnerships."
• Jatin Patel, BNP Paribas, UK
  a very enjoyable and valuable experience and I recommend this course for anyone
  " The material we covered in 2 days was incredible and the way in which complexity and level of detail was covered was quite unique. Cemal has given us a very enjoyable and valuable experience and I recommend this course for anyone who has done a bit of Java looking to move to the next step. "