Published in CodeX·5 days agoMember-onlyKnow how the Java annotations you use work. Part I: The basicsMany Java developers use the Spring framework without really understanding how it does what it does. Maybe that’s even the majority of Java developers. They use a “wizard” to start off the project, then add annotations as if they were magical incantations copied off a book of spells, without really…Java7 min readJava7 min read
Published in Dev Genius·Dec 2, 2022Member-onlyJava reminder: Overrides can narrow return type but not accessWhen complaining about how verbose Java is, hardly anyone mentions the tacit access modifier. This is one area where it might have been good for Java to be more verbose. Consider this toy example: Although SomeClass can be referenced from other packages (because it’s marked public), it can’t be…Java5 min readJava5 min read
Dec 2, 2022Reminder: One Git push can have multiple commitsOdds are you already know that a Git push doesn’t have to be just one commit. When you were learning Java or Python or something like that, learning Git was probably an afterthought, so it’s easy to forget about seemingly obvious aspects of Git. There is a feature of the…Git3 min readGit3 min read
Published in CodeX·Oct 11, 2022A quick note about fused constructors in ScalaIn Scala, it feels like we’re writing fewer constructors in our classes than in Java. This might be technically true, thanks to the fused constructor, which in some cases is provided to us automatically. The only constructor we can rely on the Java compiler to provide to us automatically is…Scala4 min readScala4 min read
Published in CodeX·Sep 3, 2022Member-onlyLess branching might mean more accurate coverage measurementGetting 100% unit test coverage on your program is an admirable goal. Achieving that goal means that every line in your program that can run does run when the automated unit tests run. In other words, the unit tests activate every line of the tested program (except of course for…Software Development6 min readSoftware Development6 min read
Sep 2, 2022A chess puzzle for American Chess DayIn the last few hours of September 1, 2022, I learned that the day was American Chess Day, apparently the first one ever. It seems to be something distinct from the National Chess Day that U. S. President Gerald Ford (R, 1974–1976) declared October 9, 1976 to be. It’s somewhat…Chess2 min readChess2 min read
Published in CodeX·Aug 3, 2022Member-onlyWhat exactly is a framework anyway?Like “API,” the term “framework” is casually thrown around by computer programmers, its meaning taken for granted by some and misunderstood by others, leaving some others confused. They wonder: What exactly is a framework? I was among those who take the meaning of the term for granted. But when asked…Java6 min readJava6 min read
Aug 1, 2022Some Salesforce developer job postings are wrongSalesforce is everywhere, yet many developers don’t even know what Salesforce is. This means that qualified Salesforce developers with just a few months of experience can demand and get better salaries than developers with a little experience in better known technologies. If wisdom is knowing what you don’t know, then…Salesforce7 min readSalesforce7 min read
Published in Dev Genius·Jul 6, 2022Member-onlyAvoid Java wildcard imports… but why?To organize the various classes and interfaces a Java program needs, we can put them in packages. Then you can fully qualify the name of a Java class or interface according to the package it comes from. For example, java.util.List<java.util.Currency> currencies = new java.util.ArrayList<java.util.Currency>(); That can get old fast. So…Java5 min readJava5 min read
Published in CodeX·Jun 1, 2022Member-onlyFiner points of Java: the difference between nested, inner and anonymous classesA Java project usually has several classes, each defined in its own source file by itself. Sometimes, though, it’s convenient to put one Java class inside another. Here’s a toy example: package org.example; public class EnclosingClass { class EnclosedClass { } } If I referred to EnclosedClass as an “inner…Java8 min readJava8 min read
