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| <!DOCTYPE preface PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN" |
| "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd"> |
| <chapter id="get-started"> |
| <title>Getting Started</title> |
| |
| <para>Learning a new framework is not always straightforward. In this section, we (the Spring DM/Gemini Blueprint team) |
| tried to provide, what we think is, an easy to follow guide for starting with Gemini Blueprint. |
| Of course, feel free to create your own learning 'path' as you see fit and, if possible, please report back |
| any improvements to the documentation that can help others.</para> |
| |
| <section id="get-started:first-steps"> |
| <title>First Steps</title> |
| |
| <para>As explained in <xref linkend="why-Spring DM"/>, Gemini Blueprint provides integration between |
| Spring framework and OSGi. Thus, it is important to become acquainted with both of these frameworks (libraries or |
| environments depending on how you want to name them). Throughout the Gemini Blueprint documentation, each section provides |
| links to resources relevant however, it is best to become familiar with these topics beforehand.</para> |
| |
| <section id="get-started:first-steps:spring"> |
| <title>Knowing Spring</title> |
| <para>Gemini Blueprint uses heavily Spring framework's <ulink url="http://docs.spring.io/spring/docs/4.3.x/spring-framework-reference/html/overview.html#overview-core-container">core</ulink> functionalty, |
| such as the <ulink url="http://docs.spring.io/spring/docs/4.3.x/spring-framework-reference/html/beans.html#beans-introduction">IoC</ulink> container, |
| <ulink url="http://docs.spring.io/spring/docs/4.3.x/spring-framework-reference/html/resources.html">resource</ulink> abstraction and |
| <ulink url="http://docs.spring.io/spring/docs/4.3.x/spring-framework-reference/html/aop.html">AOP</ulink> infrastructure. While it is not important |
| to know the Spring framework APIs, understanding the concepts behind them is. At a minimum, the idea behind IoC should be familiar. |
| That being said, the more knowledge you have about Spring framework, the faster you will pick Gemini Blueprint. |
| Besides the comprehensive documentation that explains the Spring Framework in detail, |
| there are a lot of articles, blog entries and books on the topic - take a look at the Spring framework |
| <ulink url="http://projects.spring.io/spring-framework/">home page</ulink> for more information. In general, this should be the starting point for |
| OSGi (or Eclipse plugin) developers wanting to try Gemini Blueprint.</para> |
| </section> |
| <section id="get-started:first-steps:osgi"> |
| <title>Knowing OSGi</title> |
| <para>Java developers, new to OSGi, can start by reading the OSGi Alliance <ulink url="https://www.osgi.org/developer/where-to-start/">introduction</ulink>, |
| the OSGi <ulink url="https://www.osgi.org/developer/specifications/">specifications</ulink> or one of the articles/blogs |
| available on the internet. |
| </para> |
| </section> |
| <section id="get-started:first-steps:blueprint"> |
| <title>Quick start - OSGi 5.x Blueprint Container</title> |
| <para>As an alternative to the recommended Spring documentation, if OSGi 5.x is an option, one can read the Blueprint Container specification |
| for a quick introduction to dependency injection and Gemini Blueprint functionality. Note that Blueprint is a subset of Spring and Gemini Blueprint and we recommend |
| the official documentation to get access to the whole set of features. |
| </para> |
| </section> |
| </section> |
| |
| <section id="get-started:help"> |
| <title>Need Help?</title> |
| |
| <para>If you encounter issues or you are just looking for advice, feel free to use one of the links below:</para> |
| |
| <section id="get-started:help:community"> |
| <title>Community Support</title> |
| <para>The Gemini Blueprint <ulink url="http://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php/f/153/">forum</ulink>.</para> |
| <para>The Gemini Blueprint GitHub <ulink url="https://github.com/eclipse/gemini.blueprint">mirror</ulink>.</para> |
| </section> |
| <section id="get-started:help:professional"> |
| <title>Professional Support</title> |
| <para>Professional, from-the-source support, with guaranteed response time, is available from <ulink url="http://spring.io/">Pivotal</ulink>, |
| the company behind Gemini Blueprint and Spring. |
| </para> |
| </section> |
| </section> |
| |
| <section id="get-started:up-to-date"> |
| <title>Following Development</title> |
| |
| <para>For information on the Gemini Blueprint source code repository, nightly builds and snapshot artifacts please see the Gemini Blueprint home |
| <ulink url="https://www.eclipse.org/gemini/blueprint/">page</ulink>. |
| </para> |
| <para>You can help make Gemini Blueprint best serve the needs of the Spring community by interacting with developers through the Spring Community |
| <ulink url="http://spring.io/questions">stack overflow</ulink>.</para> |
| <para>If you encounter a bug or want to suggest an improvement, |
| please create a ticket on the Gemini Blueprint issue <ulink url="https://jira.spring.io/">tracker</ulink>.</para> |
| <para>To stay up to date with the latest news and announcements in the Spring eco system, subscribe to the |
| Spring Community <ulink url="http://www.spring.io/">Portal</ulink>.</para> |
| <para>Lastly, you can follow the project team on Twitter |
| (<ulink url="https://twitter.com/adriancolyer">Adrian</ulink>, <ulink url="https://twitter.com/costinl">Costin</ulink>, <ulink url="https://twitter.com/deploynix">Olaf</ulink>)</para> |
| </section> |
| |
| </chapter> |