Enabling New Developers for IBM Lotus Notes Domino, XPages, SSJS, and Java

06/28/2010 12:15 PM by Chris Toohey

There is not a day that passes that I'm not asked what should be a rather simple question to answer:

I'm new to Lotus, can you recommend any books or websites to help me get started?

These questions come from a mix of people, most needing to pick up Lotus product family platform development for a particular task or assignment. I do find that more and more are asking me -- having found me through Google, Facebook, Twitter, et al -- after downloading Domino Designer in Eclipse... and now they're not too sure what to do next.

They're all looking for books, websites, wikis, and even training courses on this platform. And while there are excellent resources out there today -- maintained by both IBM and the members of the Lotus Online Community -- it's my opinion that we are no where near where we need to be in addressing the demand for knowledge of this platform... and that it will ultimately bring about it's downfall.

First, let's talk to the specific needs of this would-be course material:

We have seasoned IBM Lotus Notes Domino Application Developers who are most-likely new to XPages, SSJS, and Java: the clear future direction of our platform.

We have new-to-platform developers who have downloaded DDE to either learn a new technology or quickly ramp-up for a new gig.

As I mentioned the other day:

I think we need to approach XPages, SSJS, and especially Java like they are a brand new technology. We need to work on Hello World examples that don't rely on design architectures of IBM Lotus Notes and Domino but enterprise-level application user experiences, architectures, and platform capabilities that just so happen to integrate (quite easily) with an application platform we all know.

... imagine if you will, the following scenario:

What if we had courseware for IBM Lotus Notes Domino Application Development, specifically XPages, SSJS, and Java?

Lotus User Groups could use the courseware to hold monthly meetings that educate vs. market whoever they could get to show up and talk. Those of us inclined could take this courseware into adult learning annexes and teach anyone interested in learning a development language. Hell, you could take this content into your organization (or for you consultants out there your customer organizations) and teach a week-long bootcamp that would all but cement the need to upgrade to the latest release out there...

We need books. We need serialized curriculum. We need something that someone like me could take into a classroom-style setting and ramp people up on IBM Lotus as much as we need something that someone can browse during their "off-hours" to learn a few new tricks.

See, those meddling kids -- developers either new to XPages, SSJS, or Java or the IBM Lotus Notes Domino platform itself -- might be the savior of our platform... we just need to provide the Scooby-snacks!