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

>> Hibernate aggressive connection release [vladmihalcea.com]

A quick intro and overview of the way Hibernate deals with releasing connections and how that behavior can be configured.

>> Explicit receiver parameters [joda.org]

A cool feature I didn’t know Java 8 had – passing in the this parameter explicitly as a method argument.

>> JEP 277 “Enhanced Deprecation” is Nice. But Here’s a Much Better Alternative [jooq.org]

A very interesting solution to add richer semantics to the way we deprecated APIs.

>> 3 Disasters Which I Solved With JProfiler [petrikainulainen.net]

A good profiling session can make the difference between a solid, well executing and a slow path through the code. Here’s a few ideas to get started.

>> A Refresher – Top 10 Java EE 7 Backend Features [blog.eisele.net]

A rundown of some of the most useful Java EE features – most of which look quite handy.

>> Jigsaw Hands-On Guide [codefx.org]

A solid, practical deep dive into modularity with the upcoming project Jigsaw.

Also worth reading:

Webinars and presentations:

Time to upgrade:

2. Technical

>> Rich Domain Doesn’t Mean Fat Objects [sapiensworks.com]

There’s a lot to consider when modeling your domain, and not just the technical aspects.

Also worth reading:

3. Musings

>> Giving less advice [signalvnoise.com]

How close you are to the thing you had success with is really something we should all keep in mind when giving advice. Very sensible position and a solid, quick read.

Also worth reading:

4. Comics

And my favorite Dilberts of the week:

>> You have me finishing two weeks before I start [dilbert.com]

>> My email objecting to your plan [dilbert.com]

>> Two weeks or so [dilbert.com]

5. Pick of the Week

>> The One Method I’ve Used to Eliminate Bad Tech Hires [medium.com]