My garden is well, how is yours?

Okay, so what does the Software Garden actually mean?

If you’re looking for the original explanation of what the ‘software garden’ is, then I guess you won’t find a better explanation than the one I read years ago in The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas.

There are these books, films, paintings, etc. which revolutionise the way you think in certain aspects. Many people took many things from this influential book: some started boiling frogs, some talking to rubber ducks. I was raised close to the nature, therefore in my opinion the software we create and use is much more like a garden than some architecture or machinery. It lives in a way. It’s never done. The whole ecosystem constantly changes. You pray for the rain. The summer comes after the spring. New plants need space. We need to get rid of bugs to have something to eat. You can’t start with green field every week. And so on…

That’s why years ago I changed my headline from ‘Software Developer’ or ‘Software Engineer’ to ‘Software Gardener’. Sure, it confuses and intrigues some people who haven’t read The Pragmatic Programmer. It also allows me to spot a few other folks with the same description of their position, and we instantly recognise each other.

Therefore, this page is meant to be the internet representation of my ongoing journey in Software Gardening. It’s not industry-scale farm with plant monoculture, acres and acres big. It’s my little garden, with seeds I care about, with birds singing in the sky and for sure, with some bugs as well. Consider yourself invited.

(mis)using modern Java

Modern Java is really awesome when it comes to “Hello, World!” demos. It’s also cool for a sophisticated systems and algorithms, provided their authors write code which obeys a few fairly simple contracts and avoids obvious traps. There are a few mantras regarding recent features of modern Java, such as: records can replace JavaBeans everywhere you never need to write hashCode() for records pattern matching with instanceof is the best tool for equals() just ignore --illegal-access and set it to permit synchronize (new Long(42)) is the best for monitoring and so on.

Java 16 & 17. What's new and noteworthy??

Another (half a) year has passed, another major Java™ version has been released. Java was supposed “to be slow”. However, Java turns out to evolve so fast, that next releases aren’t just version bumps, but might significantly change the rules of the game. That’s a good reason to check out what’s new in Java. We’re going to cover: Records, where and how to use them, apart from DTO/VO Pattern matching with instanceof A.

What do I think about Lombok?

What do I think about Lombok? I think it’s a nice island, and I wish to visit it one day. What do I think about Project Lombok? Well, I’ve been asked this question so many times, I’ve decided to write this post. Its main purpose is to be able to paste the link and back up, because the (yet another) discussion might be so intensive, that fists will be shaken and heads will roll… There are three assumptions here:

Are you ready for Valhalla?

Many features and changes we see coming live in new Java version (if not most of them) are developed under so-called umbrella projects. We frequently see syntax improvements from project Amber, project Jigsaw is about bringing modules, project Loom (surprise, surprise) is about new threads, project Panama roughly speaking is about using native stuff safely and efficiently, and among the most known ones, project Valhalla starts to become a thing, thanks to JEP-390 being included in Java 16.

Illegal access in Java 16 A.K.A. 'My program crashes!'

Last year I wrote two posts about torturing Java records with Lombok. Fortunately (or not, depends on your point of view), Lombok’s team decided to end these sick plays. However, we don’t give up and go for builder!

Java 16. What's new and noteworthy?

Another (half a) year has passed, another major Java™ version has been released. Java was supposed “to be slow”. However, Java turns out to evolve so fast, that next releases aren’t just version bumps, but might significantly change the rules of the game. That’s a good reason to check out what’s new in Java. We’re going to cover: Records, where and how to use them, apart from DTO/VO Pattern matching with instanceof A.

Some GNOME terminal goodies

After using Linux for quite a few years now, I’ve accidentally embarrassed myself. I spend a lot of time using terminal in various forms. I’m not sure I know all Vim quirks (not to mention Emacs, but let’s not talk about this operating system now), therefore I was pretty confident I know how to use the terminal emulator… Today I’ve found a nice new feature, really low-hanging-fruit, so I’ve decided to share it with you, along with some other goodies (maybe not some obvious to Linux neophytes) I’m being asked about after my talks.
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