Java is a very backwards-compatible language. Very as in very very very. It is so backwards compatible, we still have tons of deprecated code that was deprecated in the JDK 1.1. For example, most of the java.util.Date and java.util.Calendar API. Some may argue that it would've been easier to deprecate the classes altogether... But things … Continue reading The Lame Side of Java’s Backwards-Compatibility
Tag: JCG
How to Design a Good, Regular API
People have strong opinions on how to design a good API. Consequently, there are lots of pages and books in the web, explaining how to do it. This article will focus on a particular aspect of good APIs: Regularity. Regularity is what happens when you follow the "Principle of Least Astonishment". This principle holds true … Continue reading How to Design a Good, Regular API
A Typesafety Comparison of SQL Access APIs
SQL is a very expressive and distinct language. It is one of the few declarative languages which are used by a broad audience in everyday work. As a declarative language, SQL allows to specify what we're expecting as output, not how this output should be produced. As a side-effect of this, ad-hoc record data types … Continue reading A Typesafety Comparison of SQL Access APIs
Defensive API evolution with Java interfaces
API evolution is something absolutely non-trivial. Something that only few have to deal with. Most of us work on internal, proprietary APIs every day. Modern IDEs ship with awesome tooling to factor out, rename, pull up, push down, indirect, delegate, infer, generalise our code artefacts. These tools make refactoring our internal APIs a piece of … Continue reading Defensive API evolution with Java interfaces
Bloated JavaBeans™, Part II – or Don’t Add “Getters” to Your API
I have recently blogged about an idea how JavaBeans™ could be extended to reduce the bloat created by this widely-accepted convention in the Java world. That article was reblogged on DZone and got quite controversial feedback here (like most ideas that try to get some fresh ideas into the Java world): http://java.dzone.com/articles/javabeans™-should-be-extended. I want to … Continue reading Bloated JavaBeans™, Part II – or Don’t Add “Getters” to Your API
Row value expressions and the BETWEEN predicate
Now this is a simple example of how SQL clause simulation can get nasty if you want to make use of some more advanced SQL clauses that aren't supported in all databases. Consider the following predicate and equivalent transformations thereof: The BETWEEN predicate The BETWEEN predicate is a convenient form of expressing the fact that … Continue reading Row value expressions and the BETWEEN predicate
ElSql, a new external SQL DSL for Java
Stephen Colebourne who is frequently commenting on the lambda-dev and other Java 8 mailing lists, has recently published an idea he has been having for a while: ElSql, a new external SQL DSL for Java. An example SQL statement is given on the blog posts or on GitHub: @NAME(SelectBlogs) @PAGING(:paging_offset,:paging_fetch) SELECT @INCLUDE(CommonFields) FROM blogs WHERE … Continue reading ElSql, a new external SQL DSL for Java
J2eeBasedPreAuthenticatedWebAuthenticationDetailsSource… WAT??
WAT? This hilarious talk about the incredible quirks of JavaScript had been going around on Twitter and other media. In case you haven't already, take a look at it here: https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat Speaking of WAT, let's talk about Spring Security. Spring has undertaken great effort to replace the clumsy, verbose parts of J2EE to replace them … Continue reading J2eeBasedPreAuthenticatedWebAuthenticationDetailsSource… WAT??
Learn Eclipse Keyboard Shortcuts Easily
Disclaimer: Some users experienced this plugin to break their Eclipse Juno (see comments). Use at own risk! Using keyboard shortcuts can vastly increase your productivity. Instead of switching between keyboard and mouse all the times, trying to figure out where that mouse cursor is, left/right clicking your way through context menus nested several levels deep, … Continue reading Learn Eclipse Keyboard Shortcuts Easily
Alvor: Static SQL analysis in Strings passed to JDBC
I have recently discovered this nice Eclipse plugin here: https://code.google.com/p/alvor/ It evaluates String, StringBuilder, StringBuffer, CharSequence and many other types passed to JDBC method for subsequent execution. It doesn't do a bad job at this, even if it is in beta mode. The rate of false positives that I have experienced is around 20% for regular SQL statements, and … Continue reading Alvor: Static SQL analysis in Strings passed to JDBC