PDE Does Heidelberg

En route to Zurich in our recent PDE tri-continent tour, Chris insisted on staying in the German town of Heidelberg. I believe his exact words were: "If we don't go to Heidelberg, I am going to die." So we went :)



It was a nice university town with a lot of young people walking around. It had a big castle and much like every other European town I have been to, "a river runs through it."

After a week of eating and no exercise in India, we worked out at the hotel gym and then went on a nice jog along the river.

"Free" Internet in Germany
Later that night, we both needed internet access. I wanted to fix a regression, and Chris wanted to see what every person on Earth is up to on Facebook.

Instead of paying 20 Euros/person for internet access at the hotel, Chris suggested we walk to one of the restaurants/bars downtown Heidelberg where we can enjoy a nice frosty beverage and where the "internet is free." I had my doubts about anything being free, but Chris had been there before and he knows everything, so we walked.

The rain started pouring and we had no umbrella, yet we kept walking. 25 minutes in the rain later, we got to a bar. We sat down to enjoy the free internet, and here is a picture of a very wet Chris looking perplexed when he realized that nothing is free in the world today.

As we walked back, a defensive Chris kept saying "But it was free last time. It was free". In a patronizing tone, I kept replying: "I am sure it was, Chris. I am sure it was."

Netbeans Getting More Popular

Have you been to a conference where some presenter asks to see a show of hands of how many people use Eclipse vs. Netbeans vs. IntelliJ vs. VI?

I have and the result is almost always the same. Hundreds of Eclipse users raise their hand and VI/Netbeans are at 4 or 5 people apiece.

Good news for Netbeans though. From my seat at JAX India the other day, I saw about 10 Netbeans users raise their hand (including 3 Sun Employees). So we are seeing an improvement there. The Eclipse count was still in the hundreds.

You have to give credit to the Netbeans evangelists (and EclipseZone) though for creating the illusion that the Eclipse-Netbeans competition is a dead heat.

Where Has the Innovation Gone?

A while back, our friends over at EclipseZone asked the musical question 'Where has the JDT innovation gone?'. I am not going to link to that thread because it was unfair, uninformed and a complete waste of time.

To anyone who asks: "Where is the innovation? Where is the innovation?", I say: "Here is your damn innovation!" :)

PDE Does India

The Conference

Eclipse Forum India came to a close on Thursday. Chris and I presented an 8-hour tutorial and it was packed, which confirms my theory that "Everybody Loves Plug-ins."

It is clear from the Q&A that Eclipse development is big in India. The questions were very advanced and they were non-stop. The coffee breaks were not much of a break, as the audience stormed the stage to ask more questions. It was a lot of fun.

On a personal level, the experience was pretty flattering. Some people had driven hours to come see Chris and myself talk. Many people in the audience were also familiar with our blogs and were looking forward to meet us in person.

By the end of the day, we were completely exhausted, but here is a picture of how fresh Chris and I looked like earlier in the day:



Eclipse Forum India was a very well-organized event. Thank you to Masoud, Dilip, Neeru and the rest of the JAX team for their hospitality and for going above and beyond to make sure we were well taken care of.

The Elephant Ride
One of the items on my "Things to do before I die" list is to ride an elephant, and this wish came true in India.
Here is Chris and I roaming the streets of Mysore on an elephant named "Ruby". The grin on my face says it all.

Pashminas, Pashminas, Pashminas

Having just won a $100,000 prize, Chris decided to blow all the prize money on pashminas. With the help of one of the local ladies, we went to one of the Bangalore shops, where we were knee-deep in shawls and where I learned that bartering is a blood sport.

This whole experience has been a blast.

THANK YOU, JAX INDIA

We are currently in Zurich, so stay tuned for the next installement of the "PDE Does ..." Series.