Course – LS – All

Get started with Spring and Spring Boot, through the Learn Spring course:

>> CHECK OUT THE COURSE

At the very beginning of last year, I decided to track my reading habits and share the best stuff here, on Baeldung. Haven’t missed a review since.

Here we go…

1. Spring and Java

>> Core container refinements in Spring Framework 4.3 [spring.io]

It’s always nice when a framework matures and gets easier to work with – and Spring is doing just that with the upcoming 4.3.

>> Enjoying Java and Being More Productive with IntelliJ IDEA [jetbrains.com]

A nice guide to what makes IntelliJ a good choice as your default IDE. Obviously promotional in nature, but a solid writeup nevertheless.

>> JUnit 5 Alpha Simplifies Unit Testing [infoq.com]

Short the to the point look at what’s happening with the new JUnit alpha.

>> Java A’s new Local-Variable Type Inference [jooq.org]

If this gets implemented in Java 10, it will be a beautiful thing.

It also shows a degree of openness to community feedback that is rare for a language as mature and as well established as Java is 20 years in.

>> Using the TestNG ITestContext to create smarter REST Assured tests [ontestautomation.com]

Quick and highly practical writeup on using rest-assured to test an API and how to orchestrate the interaction with the Authorization Server in OAuth2.

Also worth reading:

Webinars and presentations:

Time to upgrade:

2. Technical

>> Alternative Services [mnot.net]

The web never stops moving forward, and the standardization of these building blocks is really critical for this forward movement.

If you’re keeping an eye on this part of the ecosystem, definitely have a quick read.

Also worth reading:

3. Musings

>> We Hire the Best, Just Like Everyone Else [codinghorror.com]

Some against the grain advice on actually keeping an open mind when hiring someone and doing a good job at this notoriously difficult thing.

>> Chasing Developer Productivity Metrics [daedtech.com]

Putting a hard number of developer productivity is the white whale of our industry, and so a piece that manages to stay away from rehashing the well known and the obvious is a good read.

But the reason this one was perhaps more interesting to me is that more and more, I’m starting to build out a team around Baeldung, so the question of “productivity” isn’t just theory any more.

>> It’s Not Just Standing Up: Patterns for Daily Standup Meetings [martinfowler.com]

I don’t usually include Agile writeups here because they’re usually fluff. This one though may be worth the read (although I didn’t get through all of it).

>> A brief overview of hack.summit() 2016 (part 1) [advancedweb.hu]

Some really interesting talks here.

I’m still going through some and they’re a little bit meta, but there are some cool takeaways locked in these talks.

Also worth reading:

4. Comics

And my favorite Dilberts of the week:

>> There’s no kill switch on awesome [dilbert.com]

>> I played that on XBox [dilbert.com]

>> A pantless weasel [dilbert.com]

Course – LS – All

Get started with Spring and Spring Boot, through the Learn Spring course:

>> CHECK OUT THE COURSE
res – REST with Spring (eBook) (everywhere)
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