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As project Vulcan starts to roll out over the coming years (possibly in 2011) life as a Notes Developer is almost certainly going to change. Classic Lotus Notes development using Forms, Views, Framesets, Outlines, Agents and LotusScript will continue to exist much in the same way that Notes R5 and Notes 6 can still be found in some organizations. But a new style of development is likely emerge. Like Vulcan itself, many of these new approaches to programming are here already. Its just that many of us are not focusing on these things as much as we soon will. The following are a few random thoughts about what life as Lotus Notes developer may look like when we make the switch and start living on Planet Vulcan....
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The first change is that many of use will probably stop being Lotus Notes developers and start becoming Lotus developers. As the products start to integrate the role of a developer of collaborative solutions will focus less on stand-alone Notes applications and more on integrating applications using a Services Oriented Architecture feed the Vulcan eco-system. It is likely that as programmers we will soon start speaking a new Vulcan language where terms such as APIs, RESTful services, ATOM feeds, managed beans, iWidgets, plug-ins, portals, SaaS, and On-Pemise v Cloud will be used even more than they are today. (yes, its scary to think we might soon all start to sound like Nathan T Freeman)
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The Emergence Of Lotus Connections
I expect more and more Lotus Notes developers (oops Lotus developers!) will be paying more and more attention to Lotus Connections. At Lotusphere the only Lotus product in which Analytics was ever mentioned was Lotus Connections. It make sense that this part of Vulcan be implemented as a service in Lotus Connection as the high volumes of data the analytics engine will process is better suited to the Websphere Application Server, DB2, and Oracle infrastructure Lotus Connections supports. So it is likely that applications we develop will either be pushing information to Lotus Connections and/or we will set up our applications in such a way that Lotus Connections can pull. A public API has been promised on day one for Vulcan and Lotus Connections already provides support for REST APIs. Similar capabilities will be coming to Notes/Domino in 8.5.2. Feeds also represent a potential major player in the transfer of information and Lotus Foundations has well developed support for ATOM feeds. SOAP-based web services cannot be discounted, especially as Lotus Notes now supports this protocol with Web Service Providers (Notes 7.0) and Web Service Consumers (Notes 8.0). One of the first steps in becoming a Lotus Developer will be to develop a thorough understanding of REST, ATOM, and (perhaps) SOAP/WSDL. Where possible I would be looking at how applications can publish or consume data using a Services Oriented Architecture (using web services and feeds). As a Domino Administrator I might be tempted to strengthen my skills administering Lotus Connections servers as I expect companies wishing to get the most out of Vulcan will have a growing number of Lotus Connections servers. If you are like me there is a lot to learn about Lotus Connections in the coming months. So far my only contact has been via bleedyellow.com.
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The Future of Quickr?
I have seen others speculate about the future of Lotus Quickr. I too am starting to wonder if this product has a long term role as a stand-alone product or whether it may ultimately make more sense to role this product into Lotus Connections. I don't see this happening soon, so part of the transition to being a Lotus Developer should include adding Lotus Quickr to your toolkit (where possible). As things stand today Lotus Quickr is needed to offer a complete collaborative solution that can stand up against (and beat) Micro$oft $harepoint.
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The Continuing Push to Web Development
The focus for Vulcan appears to be based around the use of Web-based technologies. We have already seen announcements that HTML 5 and CSS 3 will be a part of Vulcan. Associated with that I would expect application development to become even more focused on XPages. There will most likely be a role for Notes Classic applications in a Vulcan world but these applications are going to start looking more and more like legacy applications with each passing day. Notes development will still exist for the Notes client but this too will probably move to XPages as part of a push to make application portable across a wide range of platforms and devices. One way or another it is going to become necessary for Lotus developers to acquire strong skills in HTML, CSS, Themes, and JavaScript. For XPages this is almost mandatory, but opportunities exist to expand skills in this area NOW with standard Domino Web development and even Notes client development itself (yes Forms do support limited amounts of JavaScript and CSS).
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Where To With The Notes Client?
One part of IBM's strategy that puzzles me is their thick client strategy. For years the Notes client has been one of the best working examples of thick client development and a cornerstone on which so many Notes applications have been developed and deployed so quickly. With XPages we seem to be seeing application development treating the Notes client as nothing more than a Web browser. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the Notes client is evolving into an Eclipse client and that its future will depend on targeting all Eclipse developers to develop applications for this client. There seems to be plenty of room for such a client on Vulcan. Rich client controls, composite applications, off-line access, embedded Web browser, and the sidebar as a host for plug-ins and widgets. To become a Lotus developer the knowledge we have acquired for the Notes client will need to be replaced with a detailed working knowledge of Eclipse.
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Yes, LotusScript is Dead!
For almost all Lotus Notes developers, life today consists of Forms, Views, Outlines, Simple Actions, and @Formulas, For a great many it's these things plus lots of LotusScript. When we arrive on Vulcan we are going to enter a world with a new programming landscape. Sure some of the landmarks will be identifiable to Notes developers. But we are going to encounter a great many things we may not have encountered before. It is likely that the Vulcan surface will not sustain LotusScript code for an extended period of time. People who are already fluent in both JavaScript and Java are more likely to become successful in their Vulcan endeavors. As Notes developers we can either choose to set up camp in a Lotus-Notes (LotusScript) ghetto or we can embrace the new community and assimilate. Yes, by sticking with our own kind we can retain our existing culture and continue to talk to fellow members in our original native tongues. We may feel safe in our LotusScript cocoon. But make no mistake, the world around us on Vulcan will continue to change and evolve. If we wish to be part of the new landscape and enjoy the wide range of new exciting capabilities Vulcan has to offer we will need to evolve as developers. To become a true Lotus developer we will need to expand our skills so that we can talk in these new Vulcan languages. The first step down that road is to XPages, JavaScript, and SSJS (plus CSS and Themes). In many ways it feels like going back to kindergarten (without any text books!) and spending moments feeling completely inadequate as a developer. For experienced LotusScript developers like me this is both difficult and frustrating. And the worst part is that after you get over that hurdle you may start to find that even that is not enough. Emerging on the horizon next is the potential need to also master Java. Eclipse is based on Java, Lotus Connections is based on Java. And I suspect Java will soon have a larger role to play in Lotus Notes development (just a hunch).
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Some of you are probably better prepared than others for our arrival on Planet Vulcan. For those of us that do chose to make the journey there is a mind-boggling amount of new information we must start to acquire. There are so many new technologies and languages to learn and master that the 18-24 months preparation time we have may not be enough. My advice is not to wait until your organization lands on Planet Vulcan before you start preparing. It may be too late. The challenge must be to find ways NOW to make these new technologies relevant to your current projects so that you can stop writing next year's legacy applications and start creating the building blocks for a long-term home on Vulcan. The skills acquired may pay enormous dividends for both you and your employer. After all, it just might be you end up retiring on Vulcan so you better start making it feel like home ASAP.
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So far I have tracked down a total of 23 presentations Given at Lotusphere in which the speakers have kindly published their presentations. Thanks to all for making the effort to make their great presentations available to those unable to attend Lotusphere. Links the to these and a great many other presentations are available at Yellowverse.com (Under Library) or can also be accessed by my Project Klingon prototype. I have also provided a summary below for the benefit of those that may not have tracked down them all...
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Please let me know if there are other presentations out there and I will update my Web site accordingly.
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- BOOT102 The A-Z of Domino Security Andrew Pollack
Gabriella Davis The IBM Lotus Domino environment has very rich set of security features and tools. From the basics to the most advanced new features, we'll show you how you can you increase security while reducing the time and cost of administration and making things easier for your users. We'll cover everything from ACL's to Xpages, including the latest tools for ID management, single sign-on, web application security, desktop policies, and considerations for DAOS. You'll get advice from two industry leading experts with real world experience planning, implementing, and and managing secure enterprise Domino environments. This session is fast paced and packed with content you can take home and put in practice. - BOOT103 Running with Scissors: Sharpen Your Skills for a Pain-free IBM Lotus Domino 8.5 Upgrade Gabriella Davis Marie Scott
Franziska Tanner Client and server upgrades to Lotus Domino 8.5 don't have to sting! Join us as we share our cutting-edge techniques for a successful upgrade - beginning to end. In this session, we'll snip through proven methods for your client upgrade with the pros and cons of basic or standard clients; building smarter SmartUpgrade kits; and managing strategically implemented policies. But our shears wonÔÇÖt stop there as we cut thru the most efficient steps for upgrading your servers and your Lotus Domino Directory; leveraging your servers to take advantage of Lotus Domino 8.5 performance improvements; and time and space savings via DAOS and ID Vault! YouÔÇÖll walk away with your own ever-sharp skill set for your most comprehensive, and pain-free upgrade yet. - BP102 Adminblast 2010: Over 60 Tips in 60 Minutes! Paul Mooney Buckle-up and get ready for this explosion of "from-the-trenches" advice on almost every facet of Lotus Domino administration. This fast-paced, energizing session provides you with the critical insight into day-to-day tasks that every administrator needs to have, as well as little-known tips and tricks that can only make your job easier. Walk away with links to important resources, as well as a full description of over 60 tips on Lotus Domino 8.x configuration, clustering, HTTP, AdminP, IBM Lotus iNotes, performance, and much, much more.
- BP103 "Top Chefs" Share Recipes for Avoiding Everyday Server Disasters Marie Scott Franziska Tanner Do you have the right recipe for securing and performance tuning your servers? Are you dealing with mail fidelity issues, routing or replication bottlenecks? And if you're got all that right, how about ACL's, ECL's, policies and client management? Come watch three seasoned chefs resolve real-world scenarios that could otherwise spell disaster if allowed to flare-up in your domain. Demystify transaction logging and get great tips on managing ids, preventative server maintenance, essential Notes.ini settings and must-have monitoring tools. Whether you're a "Top Chef" or a "Swedish Chef", you won't want to miss this smorgasbord of a session, full of solutions you can take home and use.
- BP105 Running Your IBM Lotus Domino Server on Linux Andrew Pollack Linux can be an outstanding server platform for IBM Lotus Domino. Don`t let the "geek factor" keep you trapped on another platform. Even if you`ve never used Linux at all, you`ll come away with enough understanding to set up, maintain, and troubleshoot your Linux-based Lotus Domino server. We`ll demystify the command line, the networking, the file system, the security, and the process management. When you get home, you`ll be ready to go -- to go to Linux!
- BP108 Worst Practices 4.0: "Orlando, We Have a Problem" Paul Mooney Bill Buchan After a brief vacation last year, the Worst Practices session is back! With a collection of all new, true (and horrible) stories, we'll review 10 "unbelievable but true" case studies, covering technical disasters, identifying the cause, most importantly, explaining how they could have been prevented. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you may even hide your head in shame, but you'll leave more informed and ready for your own "worse case" scenarios.
- BP112 Twelve Things Your Mother Never Told You About Installing IBM Lotus Connections Rob Wunderlich Stuart McIntyre It's a classic case of the bark is worse than the bite. Installing Lotus Connections admittedly is a complex process, with many pre-requisites to be met, environment-specific decisions to be taken and almost endless opportunities for customization and integration. It might appear daunting at first; but don't fret just yet. This session will make it a whole lot easier! We'll use our in-depth real-world experience of installing Lotus Connections at many organizations in the US and Europe to explore a dozen lesser-known details of the installation process that are key to successful deployment. WeÔÇÖll show tips and tricks, cheat sheets, install checklists and share the stuff that isn't in the manual. Priceless resources! Stuff even Mom never told you!
- BP114 IBM Lotus Domino Server & Application Performance in the Real World Andrew Pollack When it comes to performance, there are dozens of small choices made in configuration and design strategy that can really make a big difference. The best hardware won't keep up if you make the wrong combination of choices; but even inexpensive hardware can handle a large application if you make the right choices. This session includes real world examples and techniques that you can take home and implement immediately. Most of these tips are very low cost and low risk changes that can start making a difference right away. Some sites have reported up to four times more users per server without major design changes, Come and learn how for yourself!
- BP115 Performing Your Own IBM Lotus Domino Security Review Andrew Pollack Learn how to objectively and methodically evaluate the security practices and configuration in your Lotus Domino environment. Think like a penetration tester and you'll lower support costs, reduce risk, and keep the audit department happy. The session has technical, management, and business process-focused details. Stop putting big new locks on rusty chains: learn to think about security in a broad context from an expert.
- BP208 Manipulating Time and Space: Adding C&S Functionality to Your Applications Kevin Pettitt Susan Bulloch Users often request Calendaring and Scheduling (C&S) functionality in their applications, or need little "extras" added to the built-in C&S functionality already in Lotus Notes. In other cases, it can be a challenge just getting users to abandon their "email for everything" habit and embrace these features at all. We will present techniques, tools and free code to help you provide your demanding users with what they need now (and in the future), and help the stragglers put bad habits in the past where they belong. Come learn how to bend (meeting) times, add (conference room) spaces, fold C&S functionality into your custom applications, and build user-friendly interfaces for creating complex meetings with repeated ease.
- BP211 IBM Lotus Quickr Development Grows Up: Now This Changes Things Troy Reimer Viktor Krantz For years we've been showing you top-notch development methods, tips and tricks for making the most out of Lotus Quickr and its predecessors. With some major architectural changes in Lotus Quickr 8.2 for Domino, there are some amazing things you can do that were impossible (or really expensive!) before. Learn how to leverage the new REST API, server extensions and Lotus Quickr hooks to build and extend absolutely stunning Lotus Quickr applications, or just make Quickr "your" application.
- BP212 Delivering IBM Lotus Domino to Mobile Devices: Top 10 Mobile Browser Dev Tricks - and More! Rob Wunderlich John Wargo "Im a little bit iPhone he's a little bit BlackBerry." Starting with "Top 10 Mobile Browser Dev Tricks," you'll learn how to tweak virtually any Lotus Domino database to work just right on mobile devices. Yes, Virginia, you can get more than just your mail and calendar to work wonderfully on any mobile browser! Two mobile experts will walk you through best practices for delivering mobile applications via mobile browsers -- with lots of examples used in real life. We'll reveal secrets (heard about the '<div> tag trick?' that will save you many dev hours. We'll talk sync versus browse, consider device differences and even show the 'native app' side of the story.
- BP214 IBM Lotus Symphony: Finally, a Developer's Friend! John Head With Lotus Notes 8.5.1 and Lotus Symphony 1.3, developers can rejoice with the new Lotus Script and Java APIs and the new Symphony Container for Composite Applications. This session will showcase these new APIs and tools and show you how to use them to build great applications. From using LotusScript to create spreadsheets from a Lotus Notes application to building a Notes sidebar application that surfaces Lotus Notes data for reuse within Lotus Symphony, this session will open your eyes to the new capabilities, probably for the first time!
- INV107 An Oral History of IBM Lotus Notes: The First Twenty Years Ed Brill Scott Souder Lotus Notes V1 shipped in December, 1989. Twenty years later, Notes has one of the most successful and longest-running track records of any desktop software. In this session, we will look back at the history of Notes -- the milestones, the innovations, and the speed bumps. Stories never-before told in public will surface, and nostalgia will be ever-present. The session will conclude with predictions for the next twenty years of Notes and Domino.
- JMP102 The Top Things All New IBM Lotus Domino Developers Need To Know Thomas Duff Kathy Brown Are you a newbie developer? Are you just getting started in the world of Lotus Notes and Domino? Do you wish you had someone to tell you the top mistakes to avoid? What about the top tips you need to know to create successful applications? Join us as we show you the important things all beginning developers need to know. We'll explain what they are and why you need to know them. We'll also share some stories of their past pain and mistakes and how they learned these tips the hard way --- so you don' have to!
- JMP106 “Kum Bah Yah” Meets “Let's Kick Butt”: The Integration of IBM Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino with Microsoft Office, .NET, and IBM Lotus Symphony John Head
Alex Kassabov Welcome to 2010, where Lotus Notes and Domino are just part of your corporate toolset. This session will introduce you to integration of Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5 with Microsoft Office, .NET technologies, OpenOffice.org, & Lotus Symphony. We'll start with the basics and build up to mail merge, exporting to a spreadsheet, charting, presentations, and integration on the Web. Advanced topics such as Visual Studio Tools for Office, advanced development with C#, and integration with Lotus Domino Web Services are included. Integration with Xpages, Google Docs, Sharepoint, ODF, OOXML, and Windows Explorer will highlight the options available. Every sample is new or updated, so even past attendees will get something from this session. - SHOW101 Step by Step: Install, Manage and configure DAOS and ID Vault Gabriella Davis Paul Mooney Lotus Domino 8.5x has big changes in store for admin weenies, including two long-awaited new features: the Lotus Notes ID Vault and DAOS. Lotus Notes ID Vault stores user IDs on a server where they are automatically downloaded to the client should the local ID be missing, and enables users to request password changes that can be made "on the fly" by admins with no direct ID file access. The Domino Attachment Object Store is a radical change in the attachment management method on Lotus Domino servers. In this step by step, session, we'll setup Notes ID Vault and DAOS from scratch in a test environment and take you through their configuration and management.
- SHOW102 Using IBM Lotus Domino 8.5 Policies to Manage Your Clients Darren Duke Smart administrators can alleviate much end user administration and increase their own efficiency by utilizing policies and assigning them to users and/or groups. You can have settings automatically sent to clients, set default preferences that users will never find on their own, populate client Notes.ini settings and other ÔÇ£hard to doÔÇØ features. Beginning with Lotus Domino 8.5, these policies have been enhanced beyond belief and now give Lotus Domino administrators a truly awesome tool.
- SHOW106 Configuring the Tivoli Directory Integrator for IBM Lotus Domino and Active Directory Thomas Duff Marie Scott Did you ever want a tool that would allow you to connect Lotus Domino to external directories ÔÇô LDAP or AD? What about synchronizing a Lotus Domino application with data from a relational data source? If so, then have we got the tool for you and it's free! Join us as we introduce you to Tivoli Directory Integrator (TDI) and step through the installation and setup. We'll cover both simple and complex data transformation, event triggers, and change logging. Not only will you leave with the knowledge about how to set up TDI, youÔÇÖll have the skills to start using it immediately in your own environment ÔÇô as an administrator or a developer. So why not leverage the best free tool for Lotus Domino youÔÇÖve never heard about?
- SHOW201 Installation and Setup of IBM Lotus Sametime 8.5: From "Zero to Hero" in Just Two Hours Volker Juergensen Frank Altenburg IBM Lotus Sametime setup can be fast, smooth and easy when you know what you are doing. 120 minutes is all it takes -- and we'll show you how. The new server architecture of Lotus Sametime 8.5 offers so many more options to deploy that it is not easy to know where to start. In this session, we want to prove that it is possible to create a "proof of concept" setup very quickly. We'll install all the new Lotus Sametime 8.5 components: Lotus Sametime System Console, Community Server, Proxy Server, Meeting Server, Media Server and the new Lotus Sametime Connect client. At the end of the session, you can experience how to maintain and administer the whole environment just out of the new Lotus Sametime System Console.
- SHOW202 How to Customize Lotus Quickr Templates Using HTML, Javascript and CSS Bob Barber Brian O'Gorman Learn the inner workings of Lotus Quickr Domino templates. You'll see how to use your HTML, JavaScript and CSS talents to customize Lotus Quickr Domino places. This session will explain the details of Lotus Quickr templates using step-by-step examples involving theme customizations, templates, services, and event hooks. You'll see what you can do today to give Lotus Quickr places your own look and feel.
- SHOW303 Putting *Sparkle* in Your Social Applications! Customization and Branding with the New IBM Lotus Connections 2.5 Adrian Spender Mitch Cohen Come and see how Lotus Connections 2.5 can be molded to fit your needs. Don't just take our word for it, but gain the experience of a Lotus Connections customer too! From exploring the data population customizations that allow you to modify and control the information populated on your user's profiles we will move onto practical demonstration of how you can theme Lotus Connections to match your own corporate or organizational brand. We'll also discuss how you can extend the capabilities of the product easily through adding iWidgets to Profiles, Communities and the Home Page of Lotus Connections.
- SMART203 Raising the ROI of IT with IBM Client for Smart Work Antony Satyadas William Malchisky Jr. We are all smart workers but do you have the best environment to work smart? Are you looking to self fund mission critical initiatives? Would you like to learn what the risks are, how the economics works, what the architecture decisions are to potentially bring your TCO down by 50%? Many of you are already using the IBM Client for Smart Work components. You could execute a "Liberate-Migrate-Virtualize" strategy to potentially raise the ROI of your IT investments. How about drafting your business case during this session and taking it to your CIO?
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