InfoQ has launched today, having previously been live in testing mode since May 17th. InfoQ is a new Enterprise Software Development news / information community serving the Java, .NET, Ruby, SOA, and Agile communities, with content focused for technical architects, team leads and project managers. Interest in InfoQ since initial test release has been high with over 19,249 unique visitors and hundreds of blogs linking to the site. Special thanks to our audience who has been helping to spread the word, find bugs, and participate in the threads. InfoQ's launch has been supported by founding sponsors IBM, BEA, Compuware, Symantec, Cassatt, and Terracotta, and also by a number of content authors who have written the books and articles for ther site.
Today's launch presents version 0.7 of InfoQ. Version numbers are usually used on software projects, not public websites, but InfoQ will be maintaining a version number and public changelog as a means of communicating progress. Launching at version 0.7 means that InfoQ's infrastructure is production-stable, but there are still more site features such as video interviews/presentations, search, printer friendly pages, and internationalization coming before we call ourselves 1.0. The version number however has no impact on the content and essential features of the site - we are launched, and we've already posted over 85 original news stories, 2 books, and 9 articles in the last 3 weeks; the frequency of new content will increase going forward.
InfoQ is unlike any other online community site, its main differentiators include:
- Personalization. InfoQ serves multiple communities while allowing users to select which communities they are interested in, and then personalize even further by excluding specific subtopics/tags. Users personalization settings will then determine what they see on the homepage, and what they will get in their personalized RSS feed, personalized weekly newsletter, etc.
- Unique and Exclusive Content. InfoQ publishes daily news written by domain experts, articles, video interviews, video conference presentations selected from major industry conferences, technical case studies, and books.
- Innovative technology, user friendly design. InfoQ was designed with the end user in mind, to minimize needless clicks and maximize the user experience with the latest technologies such as AJAX which has been used heavily on the site in areas such as login, discussion threading, content navigation and personalization. InfoQ is not just a site about software development, it is a showcase of what's possible in web development. In addition, InfoQ offers personalized RSS feeds, a new way of interacting with RSS.
- Internationalization. InfoQ will in future offer translations of technical articles in Chinese and Brasilian Portuguese, with full internationalization of all site content (including news and threaded discussions) coming in August. InfoQ aims to become a world wide source for new information in Enterprise Software Development.
- Localization. InfoQ will in future support posting localized news to allow announcements and content specific to certain regions to be posted to the site, such as InfoQ UK, InfoQ India.
InfoQ was founded by creator of TheServerSide.com and EJB Design Patterns author Floyd Marinescu, online advertising industry veteran Roxanne Beverstein, and WebWork/TestNG/Magnolia/AspectWerkz committer Alexandru Popescu.
InfoQ is not just a content publisher, it is a community whose specialization is to track and foster change and innovation in the communities served. Each community also has specific social and content goals, some of which are expressed below:
Ruby, led by Obie Fernandez:
We aim to be an essential source for Ruby's adoption in the enterprise, tracking news and issues important to Ruby professionals and informing decision makers that will guide Ruby to mainstream IT adoption.
SOA, led by Miko Matsumura and Stefan Tilkov:
The SOA industry contains a rapidly emerging collection of architects, business leaders, vendors, analysts and developers who are creating a new conversation about Information Technology. The SOA industry is plagued by a scattered collection of blogs and small conferences, but no place for these personalities to call home. The InfoQ SOA community will be the heart of that conversation creating a source to share perspectives, compare notes, understand best practices and combine the knowledge of hands-on SOA implementation with architectural vision needed to drive adoption.
Java, led by Floyd Marinescu:
The Java community has experienced tremendous change in the last 5 years. The lines between commercial and open source are blurring. The very definition of enterprise Java and what design strategies we should use no longer rests with a standard body but with different visions driven from groups like the JCP, Spring, and others. This combines with an even greater concern: the pace of change in Java is slowing. The InfoQ Java community will provide a lens that focuses the community's attention on the innovation that IS occurring in hopes of sparking a flame that will contribute to the better evolution of Java itself.
Agile, led by Deborah Hartmann and Scott Ambler:
Enterprises, bombarded by change, know they've got to get lean to excel. In response, a vast number of process and tooling innovations are coming out of the the Agile community, but who can keep abreast of it all? The InfoQ Agile community will keep readers up-to-date and help the whole enterprise understand how to collaborate for better outcomes. Agile work is by its very nature creative, and creativity needs input - we will draw attention to a wide variety of valuable and emerging ideas, becoming a catalyst for new growth in teams and businesses.
.NET, led by David Totzke:
The Microsoft .NET world is a rapidly changing one and these are exciting times. Our mission is to provide you with information that will enable you to navigate the flood of emerging technologies and information sources and provide a starting point for community discussions. The .NET InfoQ community will be a place where people can come together to explore and define the enterprise development techniques of the future.
Readers can also have their say in InfoQ's content coverage by submitting news. Any content submitted via the 'contribute news' icon above the news portlet will be personally reviewed by InfoQ editorial staff. Since our launch InfoQ has posted a number of exclusive content items:
- Java: A technical casestudy of the Brasilian National Healthcare System
- SOA: A history of extended transactions, Evolutionary Integration with ESBs
- Agile: Being Agile without going overboard, What is Agility; Why should you care?
- Ruby: Ruby and Rails, Asset Management with Ruby DSLs
- .NET, Java, SOA: Simple Java and .NET REST Interop
- Books: Java Transaction Design Strategies, Domain Driven Design Quickly (coming later today), VS.NET Tips and Tricks
And finally, if you like our community, please show your support by registering (it’s a good way for us to gauge interest) and help us spread the word in anyway you can. InfoQ is here to stay, so please visit the community in the next few weeks and months as we have a LOT of great content lined up! Feel free to make any suggestions you like, and thank you for your support!
InfoQ Team