Meet This Year's Top Ambassador Nominees

James Sugrue

DZone: Could you tell us more about yourself?

James: My name is James Sugrue. I'm based in Cork, Ireland where I work as a software architect.
In my spare time I work as editor at EclipseZone, as well as JavaLobby. I've been with DZone since last February, so I'm just about a year working here. It's been a great opportunity to be part of such an important community website.
I'm fascinated by the variety and quality in the Eclipse eco-system, and have been closely following the projects for years.

DZone: What are the main things that you do within the community?

James:As editor at EclipseZone I've been responsible for reviving the site, as noted in Chris' nomination. I get to meet a lot of the people behind the projects and commerical products in the Eclipse eco-system. I do my best to ensure that EclipseZone provides a good balance of articles and tutorials for both beginners and veterans. My aim is to make EclipseZone the definitive stop for Eclipse users and developers. Of course, none of this is possible without the assistance from the community, which I get a lot of.

Earlier this year I released an EMF Refcard with Ed Merks. It was an interesting collaboration- Ed knows the framework back to front, while I an just a typical user of the framework. That was one of the highlights for me so far, as Ed is one of the most respected members of the Eclipse community. I have also begun working closely with the ECF team. I think this is a fantastic project. I'm hoping to get some articles together about it soon, and to get some code into their codebase.

DZone: How long have you been involved with Eclipse?

James: I started using Eclipse as an IDE back in 2002, and from there we used SWT for our standalone applications rather than Swing. This was a great introduction to the Eclipse eco-system. Since then the company has fully embraced all the Eclipse technologies and projects, from RCP to EMF. And of course, more recently I've been involved in EclipseZone which puts me right at the heart of the community.

DZone: Do you have a favourite project within the Eclipse ecosystem?

James:Without doubt that would be ECF (Eclipse Communication Framework). It really showcases where IDEs need to go in the age of overseas collaboration. If you haven't seen it yet, you have to watch the COLA Real Time Shared Editing demo. And it's all there for you to try already, just download ECF and take a look. The innovation of the project is unparalleled - there are so many possibilities for this technology in RCP applications.

DZone: In the Eclipse world, what were your highlights of 2008, and what are you looking forward to in 2009?

James:My personal highlight for 2008 was making it to Eclipse Summit Europe in November. I got to meet all of those people that I had only communicated with over email and everyone was so helpful. It really is worth trying to make it to one of the major Eclipse conferences, to keep up with the latest developments. The Ganymede release was quite impressive - very complete and delivered in time. It really sets an example for commercial applications.

In 2009, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with e4. I've been keeping an eye on it, and it looks like it will shape up as something very interesting. I can't wait to get more involved with ECF, and maybe another project or two. The Galileo release promises to be good. And I have some intriguing article series' set up for EclipseZone - I'm looking forward to seeing how these are received by the community.

DZone:What is your full time job?

James: I work as a software architect at Pilz, in Ireland. This involves heavy use of Eclipse. I started here as a graduate 8 years ago, and am really enjoying the job. The challenges are fun, and it's been great to watch the changes in the industry over the past few years.

DZone: Is it difficult for you to find the time to promote and support the Eclipse community?

James:Well, it's not that easy. Part of my job involves working with Eclipse technologies and investigating new opportunities provided by the projects. But contacting people, writing articles, doing interviews and organising EclipseZone does require a certain amount of time. It's worth it though, and the nomination makes me feel like I'm doing the right things. I have to give up some of my spare time to get all this done, but it's quite addictive once you get started. Because of the welcoming nature of the community, it feels like you're working among friends. And because of everything that I've got from Eclipse, I feel the need to give something back.

DZone: Why do you think you should be chosen as Top Ambassador?

James:It's such an honor to be nominated. I'm so happy that the community has taken some notice of the work that I've done on EclipseZone.
I've put a lot of my spare time into EclipseZone, as I believe there is a lack of full sites dedicated to Eclipse. I've been working on creating a good balance of articles, for beginners and advanced users. It's important that this happens - a lot of people have a fear of open source communities. The Eclipse community is very welcoming, and I want to reflect that in EclipseZone.
I've had the chance to meet a lot of the people behind Eclipse, and they've made me excited about Eclipse. We're only at the beginning of this huge movement, and I want to pass on this enthusiasm to others out there. Winning this award is as much a tribute to the other contributors at EclipseZone as myself.

Now that you've met each of the nominees, it's time to make the tough decision and vote for the person that you believe deserves to be this year's Top Ambassador. Voting closes on February 27th. Tomorrow we will meet the top contributors.