26 Nov 2004: Jostraca 0.4.0 Released

This release of Jostraca includes much needed performance improvements when generating multiple Java templates. Now, all Java templates are compiled and executed inside the Jostraca process if possible and multiple templates are compiled together instead of separately. For generation tasks involving many templates, these changes can make code generation up to three times faster.

This is also the first release of Jostraca under the new Ricebridge sponsorship arrangement. This means that Jostraca development will now be directly financially supported, while remaining freely available under the GPL.

This release adds Jython to the list of languages that can used in Jostraca templates. Jython is an excellent choice for creating templates that need to integrate with an existing Java environment (and its faster than normal Java templates!).

A new tutorial covering the improved template generation process has been written, which provides an overview of how Jostraca works and gives some hints for dealing with areas of difficulty.

Finally, on a personal note, I am really pleased to have a new release of Jostraca ready, it has been far too long since the last release. This has been due to, in no particular order, moving country, becoming a father, starting up a business, and shortly, buying a house.

I've been using Jostraca for over three years now and it has become an invaluable part of my programming toolkit. I hope you find it as useful as I have.