A Java geek

Debugging hints for Logstash

As a Java developer, when you are first shown how to run the JVM in debug mode, attach to it and then set a breakpoint, you really feel like you’ve reached a step on your developer journey. Well, at least I did. Now the world is going full microservice and knowing that trick means less and less in it everyday.

JavaEE

Another post-processor for Spring Boot

Most Spring developers know about the BeanPostProcessor and the BeanFactoryPostProcessor classes. The former enables changes to new bean instances before they can be used, while the latter lets you modify bean definitions - the metadata to create the bean.

Java

Travis CI tutorial Java projects

As a consultant, I’ve done a lot of Java projects in different 'enterprise' environments. In general, the Continuous Integration stack - when there’s one, is comprised of: Github Enterprise or Atlassian Stash for source version control, Jenkins as the Continuous Integration server, sometimes but rarely Atlassian Bamboo, Maven for the build tool, JaCoCo for code coverage, or even Artifactory as the artifacts repository - once I had Nexus.

Kotlin

Easy DSL design with Kotlin

In Android, every tutorial teaching you the basics describe how to design screen through XML files. It’s also possible to achieve the same result with Java (or any JVM-based language). Android screen design is not the only domain where XML and Java are valid options. For example, Spring configuration and Vaadin screen design allow both.

JavaEE

HTTP headers forwarding in microservices

Microservices are not a trend anymore. Like it or not, they are here to stay. Yet, there’s a huge gap before embracing the microservice architecture and implementing them right. As a reminder, one might first want to check the many fallacies of distributed computed. Among all requirements necessary to overcome them is the ability to follow one HTTP request along microservices involved in a specific business scenario - for monitoring and debugging purpose.

Kotlin

Extension functions for more consistent APIs

Kotlin’s extension functions are a great way to add behavior to a type sitting outside one’s control - the JDK or a third-party library. For example, the JDK’s String class offers the toLowerCase() and toUpperCase() methods but nothing to capitalize the string. In Kotlin, this can be helped by adding the desired behavior to the String class through an extension function: fun String.capitalize() = when { length < 2 -> toUpperCase() else -> Character.

Development

Making sure inter-teams communication doesn't work

Let’s face it, most developers - myself included, prefer to deal with code than with people. However, when communicating with other developers, we share a common context and understanding, which makes a lot of explanations unnecessary. It’s the same for all specialized jobs, such as lawyers or civil engineers.

Java

Type-safe annotations

I don’t like dynamically-typed languages - scripting languages in other terms. Of course, I’ve to live with Javascript because it’s so ubiquitous on the web, but given the chance, I’d switch to TypeScript in an instant.

Development

Should tests be ordered or not?

Most of our day-to-day job is learned through mentorship and experience and not based upon scientific research. Once a dogma has permeated a significant minority of practitioners, it becomes very hard to challenge it. Yet, in this post, I’ll attempt to not only challenge that sometimes tests must be ordered but prove that in different use-cases.

Nicolas Fränkel's blog