Dealing with dates and times is probably the most confusing aspect of Java for newbies. There are three reasons for this:

In other words, it allows software developers to build network-centric software that's compatible across all major platforms, helping to protect their customers' IT investments. The J2SE runtime environment supports the architecture of the J2EE platform, providing it - and the applications deployed on it - with all the standard Java facilities.

So for JDJ, even in its new "2.0" incarnation, to be published without a section devoted to the Java 2 Standard Edition would be a little like the New York Times being published without its Op-Ed page, or a Ford Explorer being sent out of the factory without its wheels.

Accordingly, this month's selection of articles is plentiful and varied, ranging from John Goodson on Java database connectivity and Irvin Lustig on optimization to Blair Wyman on JNI programming in C/C++ and Michael Barbarelli's piece on using JavaBeans in Dreamweaver.

If you're reading this issue at Sun's JavaOne show, perhaps you've been saturated with the myriad possibilities of J2ME or maybe emboldened by the transformational powers of J2EE for e-commerce. There may not be too many sessions devoted to J2SE, any more than there are technical books with "J2SE" in the title available through Amazon.com (there aren't, not a one).

But J2SE isn't the "poor relation" of the Java industry any more than, say, paper is considered second fiddle when it comes to the publishing industry. Accordingly the J2SE Section will always give houseroom to good technical writing that explores the development of apps using the J2SE APIs. There will always be, just as there is this time, at least one book review (this time we've selected Debugging Java by Will D. Mitchell; next month we'll look at 3D User Interfaces with Java 3D by Jon Barrilleaux). There will always be reviews of products and apps, and there will always be room, too, for an up-to-the-minute roadmap and for the J2SE FAQ, since JDJ is well aware of its duty to entrants to the Java space.

We'll print plenty of source code, plenty of tips and tricks...and of course want plenty of feedback.

Java programmers of every stripe should feel free to become involved with the JDJ Web site, www.sys-con.com/java, and should consider subscribing to JDJList, too, where Java information, insights, and viewpoints are exchanged on a daily, and often an hourly, basis.

Last but not least, as no reader of this issue could possibly be unaware - short of having read the issue through the wrong end of a telescope...or in the dark maybe - SYS-CON Media's conference arm, SYS-CON Events, is producing and presenting in September what is simply the largest Java developer conference and expo ever held on the East Coast. So if you are able to get to New York anytime between September 24 and 26, make a firm note in your calendar to attend. Further details are also on our Web site; you can't miss them.

Java Developer's Journal undergirds the conference in much the same way that J2SE undergirds the Java 2 Platform. The new section editors will all be there, along with the head honcho himself, editor-in-chief Alan Williamson, and a good many of JDJ's stalwarts like product review editor Jim Milbery, plus an assortment of editorial panel members and regular contributors.

What's more, if you want to listen to the likes of the coinventor of Java, the legendary James Gosling, or to the man who helped orchestrate the growth and adoption of the Java platform from its infancy to its present status as a robust platform that supports mission-critical applications in almost 80% of Fortune 1000 companies - which is what conference keynote speaker Dr. Alan Baratz did in his former life as president of the software products and platforms division at Sun - then you should attend.

We look forward to seeing you there in September. Just as we look forward to meeting you here, in the J2SE Section of the new-look JDJ, next month.