Agenda proposal:

We would like to use the three days to continue working on the DataTable Tool, which has been designed and partially implemented during the Tools Development Exercise, http://bugs.sakaiproject.org/confluence/display/TDE/Home. The goal of this effort is not so much to finish the tool but to learn as much as possible about the tool writing process and the Sakai framework.

We envision that we use each working day as follows:

• In the morning, having presentations that cover the more theoretical stuff, which then directly apply to what we work on in the afternoon.
• In the afternoon, we do the work, setting up the environment, coding, etc. Then at the end of the day, we gather to discuss the day's outcome and plan for next day's activities.

Sunday, 26 February, 9 - 12 AM : 1 - 5 PM

1. Setting up the tool development environment
   • Subversion, Maven, Ant, Java, Eclipse, Tomcat, Sakai, ...
   • Continuing documenting this process, following Zach Thomas' outstanding work
2. How to start a tool, Directory structure, Maven, ...

Monday, 27 February, 9 - 12 AM: 1 - 5 PM

1. Familiarize yourself with technologies such as Hibernate, Spring, and JSF, and how they are used with Sakai
   • Using Hibernate to persist data during tool development
   • Using JSF for tools development. Maybe look at and compare some of the alternatives such as StrutsShale, Facelets, RSF, Wicket, ...
2. Learn about the Sakai Kernel and Component Manager
   • How Spring is used in the Sakai Framework, especially the Component Manger, as well as in tool development
3. Implement a simple part of the DataTable Tool, (Maybe Import/Export DataTable)

Tuesday, 28 February, 9 - 12 AM: 1 - 5 PM

1. How to Unit Test, using JUnit during the Maven build process
2. Adding a simple Web-Service API to the DataTable Tool and access it via Macromedia Flash and or PHP
3. Can the sakai kernel leverage the spring framework's functionality more?
   • Looking at some Spring-AOP possibilities as well as Spring-Security via Acegi

Please leave a comment if you want to talk about a specific topic that is not listed.