Published in CodeX·Oct 11A 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 3Member-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 2A 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 3Member-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 1Some 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 6Member-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 1Member-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
Published in CodeX·May 18Use cases for inner classes in JavaIn a linked list, each node has an obvious and predictable relationship to other nodes in the list. The nodes of a linked list can be implemented as instances of a private class nested in the linked list class. As we saw in my article about nested static classes, the…Java5 min readJava5 min read
Published in CodeX·May 5A couple of use cases for nested static classes in JavaWhenever you can use an anonymous class, you can use a named nested static class instead. But that only makes sense if you need to instantiate the class from two or more places. That’s probably not going to be the case with an iterator, but it’s likely to be the…Java3 min readJava3 min read
Published in CodeX·May 3Member-onlyA couple of use cases for anonymous classes in JavaWhen I first learned about anonymous classes in Java, I didn’t quite see the point. I understood the syntax well enough to recognize anonymous classes in applications of Java’s Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT). Those didn’t quite seem to make sense to me. You want a particular window to close when…Java5 min readJava5 min read
