Do you follow the trends?  While Java still holds a commanding lead in the general-purpose language, its important to note that specific-purpose languages (such as Ruby [read: domain-specific language) continue to grow in importance and relevancy, as shown below.

Why?  Because flexibility and customization still matter – a lot.  Read our take on the importance of DSLs for delivering RIAs and Web Services here and here and here!  And let us know what you think.

Speak with you soon.  DC

Today we announced the Skyway Cup 2008 developer contest. The Skyway Cup will showcase how Skyway Community members use Skyway Builder Community Edition (CE), a model-centric JEE development tool, to serve their specific needs in the following categories:

• Best Rich Internet Application (RIA)
• Best Skyway Builder CE Extension

The 1st Place prize is $25,000, 2nd Place prize is $7,500 and 3rd Place prize is $2,500. Skyway Software also will award 22 Honorable Mention prizes of $250 each.  Rules are located at www.skywaycup.org.  No purchase necessary and void where prohibited.

With Skyway Builder CE, Java developers get an open source Eclipse-based plugin that offers a seamless blend of coding and modeling for delivering RIAs and Web Services in Spring. Unlike any other modeling tool, Skyway Builder CE provides comprehensive modeling capabilities at four distinct application layers:

• View/UI Layer with JSP tags on JSP
• Controller Layer with controller/conversations/actions
• Service Layer with service/operations/actions
• Data Layer with data type/data store/named queries

Skyway Builder CE is easy to learn and use, extensible for individual or corporate use, transparent with full access to underlying code, and compatible with the most common open-source Web servers, JEE (EJB3) containers, and databases. A wide variety of Skyway Builder product information and resources are available on the Skyway Community site located at www.skywayperspectives.org.

Let us know what you think about it!