Surveys and Blogs
In April 2006, Sun sent a survey to members of the Java community in order to solicit feedback on the direction Java was going, or should go. The survey asked for areas to be improved or changed for the better. In return, Sun has invested in the community by encouraging its developers to actively blog about the future of Java. At sites such as http://weblogs.java.net, you can read blog entries from the actual people who design and build the Java future. Again, the information flow goes both ways.
You can read from an aggregated view of all Sun-sponsored, Java-related, blogs at http://planetjdk.org. Here, you will find entries from developers of Mustang, NetBeans, and the Glassfish project.
Don't let the future of Java escape you. Become an active part of the community, if you haven't already, by visiting https://mustang.dev.java.net and http://community.java.net/jdk often. Be sure to also sign up for a Sun Developer Network account (http://developers.sun.com), and to become a Java Community Process member.
Sun was actively pushing people to sign up for this network of communities at JavaOne this year. Why? Because it's important to the future of Java to ensure that a healthy community of developers exists. It's also important that the future is guided by individual developers like you, not just corporations or other entities. By helping to guide Java's future, Sun is doing its best to ensure Java's success for years to come, and you're doing your part to ensure that Java will continue to be what you need it to be in the years to come.
