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Being new to Java I'd like to use the following scenario to steer my learning and could use some advice!

First I want to build a Java server app that handles login and client settings, and based on client info pulls up random database entries and sends these random entries to the client on a timer. This must work for many clients, each on their own private timers against the main database, and just keeps looping on timers so it's not a one-shot lookup.

Second I want the client to stay logged in all day, and to notify and maybe popup locally with the info from the server. This popup will be a small input form which is then sent back to the server.

I can't do this as a web page because I want it to run any time the client wants to start the local app.

This could possibly be used as a calendar, meeting planner or schedule notifier for clients which are my user stories. Suggestions on appropriate design patterns and techniques appreciated!

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Look up Enterprise Integration Patterns by Gregor Hohpe and Bobby Woolfe to get you started. –  Martijn Verburg Oct 11 '11 at 18:53
@MartijnVerburg That book gets some pretty nice reviews. It won't help me directly with my question but it just might help me design the infrastructure that my eventual solution works within. Thanks =) –  Patrick Hughes Oct 11 '11 at 21:43
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I would suggest taking a look at running Seam on a JBoss application server. Add Rich Faces on top of seam, and writing the application you describe should be fairly easy. The application that I work on daily uses Seam, and it handles all day log-in's by using the users browser to ping (poll) the server that it's still alive. Using what you described, you could use the browser to poll the server for new information.

Seems like that would be a good fit to me, and (IMHO) JSF + Seam is a pleasure to work with, JSF is much easier than JSF, and Seam removes a large amount of boiler plate. There's a lot of "magic" with Seam, but if you can get past that, it's well worth it.

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I'll check that out, Thank you. –  Patrick Hughes Oct 25 '11 at 17:20
Doing some more reading, you should probably use Prime Faces (primefaces.org) over Rich Faces, especially if you use JSF 2.0 (which you should). –  user39331 Oct 25 '11 at 18:03
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