Here we go…

1. Spring and Java

>> Function-Oriented Programming with Spring Cloud Function Framework [infoq.com]

Spring Cloud Function is a new project that embraces working with functions – single units of computations. The interesting new addition here is the ability to decouple those from a particular vendor by introducing deployment-platform dependencies.

>> Parsing of LocalDate query parameters in Spring Boot [blog.codecentric.de]

Using LocalDates as query parameters is not always as easy to use as it could be in Spring – but we can always implement our own formatters.

>> Best Practices for Many-To-One and One-To-Many Association Mappings [thoughts-on-java.org]

A super useful list of distilled of practices to remember when working with Many-To-One and One-To-Many mappings in Hibernate.

>> flatMap() vs. concatMap() vs. concatMapEager() – RxJava FAQ [nurkiewicz.com]

>> flatMap() and the order of events – RxJava FAQ [nurkiewicz.com]

RxJava's flatMap() is raising a lot of questions – some of them are answered here.

>> Code Smells: Null [blog.jetbrains.com]

The concept of Null is a commonly acknowledged problem, but there are certain practices that can help us to not deal with it directly.

>> How to store schema-less EAV (Entity-Attribute-Value) data using JSON and Hibernate [vladmihalcea.com]

A quick and practical example of storing EAV data using JSON and Hibernate.

>> Bean Validation 2.0 is a spec! [beanvalidation.org]

Cool – the new Bean Validation 2.0 specification is ready – you can check it out on the JSR's page.

Also worth reading:

Webinars and presentations:

Time to upgrade:

2. Technical

>> Messaging as the Single Source of Truth [confluent.io]

A comprehensive guide to using Kafka as the Event Store in a system utilizing the Event Sourcing approach. Very nice.

Also worth reading:

3. Musings

>> In defence of pedantic tools [blog.codecentric.de]

Pedantry is often annoying but at the end of the day saves us from a lot of trouble 🙂

>> Application Network Functions With ESBs, API Management, and Now.. Service Mesh? [blog.christianposta.com]

An in-depth guide to different Microservice patterns.

>> Pulling Your Team Through a Project Crunch [daedtech.com]

Crunch time is hard for everyone, but surely there are ways to make it less painful than it actually is.

Also worth reading:

4. Comics

And my favorite Dilberts of the week:

>> Valuable Career Advice [dilbert.com]

>> Death-Eater Grey [dilbert.com]

>> Changing back to cubicles [dilbert.com]

5. Pick of the Week

>> Solving Your Logging Problems with Logback [stackify.com]