Java Annotated Monthly - October 2020

Java News

Java 15 is one of my favorite releases, inasmuch as one can get attached to something as transient as the new releases. It has finalized some features that were previously preview and experimental, and has some really nice preview and incubating features like Records and Sealed Classes.

☕️ Download: https://t.co/s4rnMb4g0h
☕️ Release Notes: https://t.co/wWmCnk7acI
☕️ Docs: https://t.co/HjqEXdq4G6
☕️ Blog: https://t.co/XKXwJFwsPF pic.twitter.com/xRJ8ujhbk4

- Sharat (@Sharat_Chander) September 15, 2020

Java Tutorials & Tips

I want to talk about an underappreciated gem of the JVM ecosystem - async profiler. The common perception is that you only need to use a profiler if you're a perf eng. So here's a few stories of how fitting a profiler into daily workflows helped me to be a better software eng 1/N

- Sergey Tselovalnikov (@SerCeMan) September 15, 2020

Languages, Frameworks, Libraries and Technologies

• New to IntelliJ IDEA? Me Too - written by my colleague Helen Scott, it's a helpful set of observations which may help users to get started with IntelliJ IDEA
• How the HotSpot and Graal JVMs execute Java Code - quite low level
• Maximizing Applications Performance with GraalVM (video)
• Spring Boot Docker - a detailed look at using Docker with Spring Boot application.
• Azure + Spring Boot = Serverless - Q&A with Julien Dubois
• Build a Spring Boot Application Using Java Modules - I don't usually see many tutorials on modularity, particularly with Spring Boot, so this was interesting.
• Composite Repositories - Extend your Spring Data JPA Repository - in the real world, the type of data access we want to do quickly moves beyond the simple cases. Here we see some more complex use cases.
• Helidon SE, another breed of speedy - I liked this detailed tutorial to get started, which includes a summary at the start setting the scene of the microservice framework choices we have in the Java world
• Exception Handling in Eclipse Collections
• Migrating from Hibernate's to JPA's Criteria API - pros and cons of both approaches, and steps for migration
• Baseline Sentiment Analysis with Naive Bayes in Kotlin - an interesting Machine Learning example in Kotlin
• A Simple, Real World Example of Nothing in Kotlin. (counts as a "paid" Medium article) - I learnt something interesting about Kotlin
• Value-Based Classes and Domain Modelling in Kotlin - helpful for understanding these features in Kotlin, but also helpful for a Java programmer trying to understand where we might use Records
• Customizing your GitHub profile - Scripting - in Kotlin
• gRPC with Kotlin Coroutines - ooh, I thought RPC was dead, this opened my eyes
• Using Code Coverage As a Review Tool - video and blog, looking at how we can use coverage information in a useful way
• BDD (Behavior Driven Development) | Better Executable Specifications (video) - I learnt BDD from Dave Farley (who hosts this video) and it changed the way I develop software forever.

Conferences and Events

October is a busy month for conferences even though we're not going to conferences...

Culture & Community

• If everyone hates it, why is OOP still so widely spread?
• Introducing Domain-Oriented Microservice Architecture - so... Domain Driven Design is a Good Thing.
• Reading Code is a Skill - yay, it's been years since I wrote a personal blog post.
• Are you sure your software is gender-neutral? - I've just finished Invisible Women and even though I read a lot around this topic, I learnt a lot. Our world is still nowhere near gender neutral
• API Resilience (podcast) - lots of good stuff in here, but the thing that catches my attention, of course, is when Lorna talks about what developer advocacy looks like for her, particularly how developer advocates are involved in improving the industry as a whole, they're not just a marketer for a product
• WFH - his working from home is definitely not the same as mine. Clearly he doesn't have offspring under the age of five running around
• Stanford professor: Working this many hours a week is basically pointless. Here's how to get more done-by doing less
• On Making Hard Decisions - this year in particular is forcing many of us to make difficult decisions
• How I learned to turn Impostor Syndrome into an Advantage - The Impostor's Advantage - "The impostor's advantage was a super power." Imposter syndrome is real and it grinds you down. It can be used, but it takes experience and an environment with psychological safety
• The Myth of the Equal Opportunity Asshole - Multipurpose Nerdery - really interesting look at why someone who's awful to everyone is going to have a bigger impact on people from underrepresented groups.
• The Rise of the Monk Mode Morning - I didn't know this was a thing, but since I read When I've been trying to keep two mornings a week for focus time, and I recommend it
• How to estimate time required for an IT project or task as a developer - estimations are hard, but that doesn't mean we can't improve
• How I operated as a Staff engineer at Heroku - "Coaching & Culture" a key part of a senior engineer's responsibilities
• The Official, Authorized List Of Legitimate Reasons For Deciding to Become a Manager - interesting.
• Multipliers - this article talks about multipliers and diminishers in the context of technical leaders. Mandatory reading for anyone who is, or wants to be, a tech lead.
• Executive Psychopaths - an old article, but still relevant - today's business practices reward people who don't actually function like real people
• Level Up - Issue #57 - yep, I'm definitely in the "Reactive Hamster Wheel" this month.
• Leading senior engineers: lessons learned - very valuable
• Human Capital: Workers are upset about labor practices, and Amazon and Apple are on the defensive - guess what? Tech firms are always all that ethical...
• A Quick Primer on Robert "Uncle Bob" Martin - I don't want to tell anyone what to think or who to listen to in this newsletter. I do want to provide some viewpoints for people to make their own decisions. Role models have a very big impact on an industry.
• The Ghost Who Codes: How Anonymity is Killing Your Programming Career - an old article, but aligns nicely with the Career Advice for Programmers keynote I just gave at JavaZone.
• Stress, anxiety and depression levels soar under UK Covid-19 restrictions - who knew?
• COVID-19 Developer Impact Report (requires signup) - I did not sign up, so I haven't checked it, but I include it in case it's interesting to anyone
• The COVID-19 Crisis: a Company's Journey into the Unknown - I liked how this article showed how a crisis like the current one can force a company to think hard about its true values, instead of just bigger-better-more. I also loved the vulnerability on show here.
• This Overlooked Variable Is the Key to the Pandemic - I know we've had enough of COVID-related news, but I found this article fascinating. Not just in the context of the pandemic, but also at a meta-level of how important it is to not get fixated on optimising for one particular measurement.
• I agree with everything in this thread:

When I first started my career, I thought being a stellar software engineer means writing correct, performant, and elegant code, having deep understanding of programming languages & frameworks & operating systems & networking & databases, etc.

- Joy Gao (@joygao) September 19, 2020

And Finally

A round up of blog posts and videos from IntelliJ IDEA and JetBrains.

Just stumbled on this cool IntelliJ feature that provides the ability to run a test N times. #IntelliJTips #IDEA . pic.twitter.com/o4NuobLxJY

- Lawal (@lawalspeaks) October 2, 2020

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