A Java geek

Alternatives to DTO

More than a decade ago, I wrote about the DTO: A data transfer object is an object that carries data between processes. The motivation for its use is that communication between processes is usually done resorting to remote interfaces, where each call is an expensive operation.

Development

Evolving your RESTful APIs, a step-by-step approach

Designing an intuitive, user-friendly RESTful API is a tough job. It might already be a massive task if it’s your first attempt. Planning for the lifecycle management of your API is likely to be an afterthought. But it’s possible anyway: in this post, I’d like to propose a no-nonsense approach to evolving your APIs, even if it was not planned. The initial situation Let’s consider a sample application that says 'Hello' when using it. > curl http://org.

development

Avoiding Stringly-typed in Kotlin

A couple of years ago, I developed an application in Kotlin based on Camunda BPMN to help me manage my conference submission workflow. It tracks my submissions in Trello and synchronizes them on Google Calendar and in a Google Sheet. Google Calendar offers a REST API. As REST APIs go, it’s cluttered with String everywhere. Here’s an excerpt of the code: fun execute(color: String, availability: String) { findCalendarEntry(client, google, execution.conference)?.let { it.

Java

System Logger

December was not a good time for Java developers and even less for Ops. The former had to repackage their apps with a fixed Log4J’s version, and the latter had to redeploy them - several times. Yet, every cloud has a silver lining. In my case, I learned about System.Logger. A good time to start using the new standard System.Logger API introduced in Java 9: https://t.co/SaBUnqEZqF. It works like SLF4J and by default logs using JUL but can use Log4J or any othet logging under the hood.

Development

The Gilded Rose Kata in Rust

This is the 10th post in the Start Rust focus series. The Gilded Rose Kata is a refactoring exercise. The full description is available on GitHub. Nowadays, the kata is much more widespread. It’s available in plenty of languages, even some that are not considered mainstream, e.g., XSLT or ABAP. In this post, I’d like to do it in Rust.

Java

The Flatten Maven plugin

One of the Apache Maven committers recently wrote about their plans for Maven 5.

development

Treat security as a risk

Security is the poster child of a Non-Functional Requirement: most people don’t care until the proverbial fecal matter hits the rotary propeller. Consequences can range from losing reputation to legal liability to putting the business out. In my post on running unsecured code, I concluded that you should treat security as a risk - and left it at that. I think it warrants a dedicated post. Risk management is pretty much documented.

java

You're running untrusted code!

Last December, Log4Shell shortened the nights of many people in the JVM world. Worse, using the earthquake analogy caused many aftershocks after the initial quake. I immediately made the connection between Log4Shell and the Security Manager. At first, I didn’t want to write about it, but I’ve received requests to do so, and I couldn’t walk away. Hey @nicolas_frankel, isn't the #Log4j-Exploit the perfect argument against deprecation of the Java SecurityManager?!

Java

A tentative comparison of fault tolerance libraries on the JVM

If you’re implementing microservices or not, the chances are that you’re calling HTTP endpoints. With HTTP calls, a lot of things can go wrong. Experienced developers plan for this and design beyond just the happy path.

Nicolas Fränkel's blog