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SMEs, Steer Clear of Microservices!

April 15, 2024

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Newsletter July 24, 2023

The First Ideal: Locality and Simplicity

Hi, I once developed a backend with just two engineers. It was the backend for Sunrise Village . I joined the team already in the pre-production stage, together with my then colleague. For over three years, we were the backend team. The other teams were larger. We had up to 8 frontend developers, a similar number of artists, two game designers, product owners, product managers, and 2 test automators. Even the fact that there were only two of us was actually too many.

Marcus Held

Newsletter July 20, 2023

"I think Loom is going to kill reactive programming." ~Brian Goetz

Hi, “I think Loom is going to kill reactive programming.” This statement comes from Brian Goetz . Do you know who he is? Brian has been the Java Language Architect at Oracle for 13 years. He is the author of “Java Concurrency in Practice” - a standard work for every Java developer . He was also the one who brought JSR-335 - Lambda Expressions - into the language. What Brian says has substance.

Marcus Held

JPA July 19, 2023

The Hi/Lo Algorithm in Hibernate: Optimizing Database Identifier Generation

In the world of JVM persistence, Hibernate has a firm place. As one of the most popular frameworks for data persistence, it offers a multitude of possibilities to make developers’ lives easier. One of these possibilities is the Hi/Lo algorithm, a database identifier generation strategy that allows reducing the number of database calls when new entities are persisted. The Challenge of Identifier Generation Before we dive into the Hi/Lo algorithm, let’s briefly look at the challenge of identifier generation in a database.

Marcus Held

Newsletter July 17, 2023

Surprising Documentation

Hi, Class comments, architecture documentation, method comments, API documentation, inline comments, feature documentation, wireframes, entity-relationship diagrams, use-case diagrams, process documentation, end-user documentation… There are so many things one can document. But what do I really need? Documentation doesn’t write itself. Someone has to take the time. And for it to truly add value, it needs to be well-written, as complete as possible and focused. Not everyone can do that. In large corporations - with thousands of employees - a lot is documented.

Marcus Held

Newsletter July 13, 2023

Double-Entry Bookkeeping

Hi, An error in accounting can be costly. Especially in large companies, where there are many transactions, it is easy to overlook one. And when that happens, I might not even notice it. Perhaps the company is doing much better than the books indicate? Or maybe it’s actually unprofitable? Merchants in the 13th century recognized the problem. A system had to be found that would make errors less likely. They invented double-entry bookkeeping.

Marcus Held