This month's topic: Java Performance Testing with Project Bonneville

Project Bonneville is Chris Cowell-Shah's evenings-and-weekends open source project for measuring the performance of certain core Java SE features. Chris will review the results of these benchmarks with an eye to addressing the following questions:

How does performance vary across JVM vendors?

How does performance vary across JVM versions?

How does performance vary across operating systems?

How does the performance of 1.4 features differ from their 1.5+ replacements?

How true are commonly held assumptions about Java performance?

Can we generate simple rules of thumb for high-performance Java SE programming?

There will also be a short discussion of the tradeoffs between micro- and macro-benchmarks. Because this is a work in progress, comments and observations about Project Bonneville's benchmarking methodology, or suggestions for future benchmarks, are especially welcome.

Chris promises a LOLCAT-free presentation, though there may be a slide or two of his kids.

Speaker: Chris Cowell-Shah

Chris does quality assurance for Oracle's Java-based Rules engine. He has also worked as an IT consultant for Accenture, and as a researcher for Accenture's Palo Alto research and development lab. He studied computer science and philosophy, and is always on the lookout for points of intersection between the two. http://www.cowell-shah.com/

PJUG meetings start with some time to eat and socialize (pizza and beverages are provided), followed by the featured speaker, then Q&A, discussion, sometimes a drawing to give away swag. :)

Though we like knowing how many people to expect, you don't have to RSVP, on Upcoming or otherwise. Go ahead and just show up!

Many people also go for a drink and further discussion following the meeting, at a location determined ad hoc (lately, the Market Street Pub at 10th and Market: http://mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=24 ).

http://twitter.com/pjug http://pjug.org/ (join our mailing list, linked from the website!)

Ever wonder how your email list stacks up against other nonprofits?

M+R Strategic Services and NTEN released a new eNonprofit Benchmarks Study for 2009 (Download the report at http://www.e-benchmarksstudy.com/2009.html). We've analyzed online messaging, fundraising, and advocacy data from 32 leading nonprofit organizations to provide you with reliable new data, answering questions like:

* How is the financial crisis affecting online fundraising?
* How do my targeted emails, appeals to non-donors, phone call alerts, and more compare to those of other nonprofits?
* For state-based or local groups, what's a good email response rate

Karen Matheson, M+R Strategic Services will cover key findings on fundraising and advocacy metrics, explore what the data tells us about industry-wide changes, provide key metrics to analyze your organization's online program and take questions about the study and nonprofit online metrics.

She will also offer up real-world advice and research-based best practices for communicating effectively with your membership, helping maintain and develop supporters, build relationships, and sharing your story.

Agenda: 5:30 Networking

6:00 Presentation with Q/A

7:00 More Networking

Karen Matheson is the Manager of Quantitative Research and Analysis at M+R Strategic Services and provides strategic data analysis for a range of M+R's eCampaigns clients, including the Human Rights Campaign, Oxfam America, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. With a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Oregon and graduate coursework in statistics and analysis, Karen has a strong quantitative research background. In addition to co-authoring M+R and NTEN's eNonprofit Benchmarks Study (www.e-benchmarksstudy.com), Karen regularly researches and co-authors articles about best online communications strategies using data from several national nonprofits.

Please email Anna at [email protected] or Donna Arriaga at [email protected] with any questions.