Welcome to JavaPolis Interviews
Who's Alexander Krapf and what are you presenting at JavaPolis?
What is the "versioning problem"?
Why not refactoring the interface?
Do we see the "versioning problem" less in enterprise systems?
Is this a problem we can solve in Java today?
What's the most visible problem that we can see with respect to this versioning problem?
Can we operate on the particular approach that data and code live separately?
What drove you towards Codemesh?
How hard is it to bridge between the Java Type System and the .Net system?
How often do you run into issues?
How hard is it to debug?
When do I rewrite my code or choose to try to make interoperability work?
Have you ever been thrown tomatoes at you?
Software versioning is one of the most neglected areas of software development. We're all aware of the need for version control systems in development, but these systems are external to our source code.
How do you write software that withstands the test of time, software that does not have to be rewritten each time you change an interface, software that can still read persisted objects even if they were written by the last version of the application? In this interview Ted Neward talks with Alex Krapf about The versioning problem in the Java space.
Alexander Krapf has over 20 years experience in software engineering, product development, and project management in the United States and Europe. He has been extensively involved in a variety of complex product development efforts using his in-depth understanding of .NET, C++, and Java. His successes have ranged from contributing SEC compliance components in the financial sector to managing the development of e-commerce servers for Hitachi Computer Products. In addition to founding and managing Codemesh, Alexander has worked for IBM, Thomson Financial Services, Hitachi, Veeder-Root, and Document Directions Inc., where he has been involved in product rollout, customer training, and customer relations for a diverse set of products and services.
Recognizing the need for easy to use, quality software integration products, Alexander co-founded Codemesh to satisfy a growing market need and his own entrepreneurial instincts. His history, with product successes as well as failures, has taught him what it takes to build a company with strong technology, firm business principles, and excellent customer support: CodeMesh.
Alexander Krapf received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Stuttgart, Germany.