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

>> React.js and Spring Data REST: Part 4 – Events [spring.io]

WebSockets and a responsive UI – we’re getting into some pretty cool and powerful stuff with the fourth installment of this series.

>> Spring From the Trenches: Using Type Converters With Spring MVC [petrikainulainen.net]

A solid introduction to custom type conversion in Spring and Spring Boot; the framework does provides a lot of help, but there’s always something custom that’s needed.

>> Exploring CQRS with Axon Framework: Overview of Some DDD concepts [geekabyte]

>> Exploring CQRS with Axon Framework: Building the Entity, Aggregate, Aggregate Root and Repository components [geekabyte]

CQRS and Event Sourcing is one of my favorite subjects – mainly because it leads to a solid, powerful architectures. It doesn’t work well for everything – much like microservices – but given a complex enough domain – it makes a lot of sense.

This series is a solid place to start if you’re just getting into these concepts and want to follow along with an ordered, cadenced approach.

>> Refactoring Module Dependencies [martinfowler.com]

Dealing with module dependencies cleanly is quite a challenge. This writeup is definitely a good place to up your game (it deals both with Java and JavaScript, which is also quite interesting).

>> Retryable operations [techblog.bozho.net]

If you find yourself adding retry support into your projects, have a look at this writeup. Of course, the libraries linked from the article (especially the Guava solution) are solid ways to go.

>> RequiredInterface [martinfowler.com]

Quick and to the point – an overview of this sometimes useful “pattern” of interface design.

Also worth reading:

Webinars and presentations:

Time to upgrade:

2. Technical

>> Continuous Integration Platform using Docker Container: Jenkins, SonarQube, Nexus, GitLab [codecentric.de]

Getting started with a CI is simple. Getting the most out of it – not so much.

And moving beyond the initial work of setting things up , there’s so much more in terms of good practices to employ when it comes to actually getting value out of the CI. This writeup does a good job covering some of these practices.

Also worth reading:

3. Musings

>> dftw – decoupled for the win [amundsen.com]

Make your APIs discoverable. From the horse’s mouth.

>> Opt-in Transparency [zachholman.com]

I always learn something new reading Zach’s pieces on company culture – and this one isn’t any different – quick, engaging and highly useful.

Also worth reading:

4. Comics

And my favorite Dilberts of the week:

>> Did you learn to debate on the internet? [dilbert.com]

>> They know about Plan A [dilbert.com]

>> I renamed all the UNIX servers [dilbert.com]

5. Pick of the Week

The reference intro to this powerful style of architecture – definitely worth reading carefully:

>> Event Sourcing [martinfowler.com]