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At the very beginning of 2014 I decided to track my reading habits and share the best stuff here, on Baeldung.
2014 has been quite the year, covering each week with a review. I’ve been doing a lot more reading to make sure I cover and curate stuff that has value and is actually interesting.
Let me know in the comments if you’re finding my reviews interesting and useful.
Here we go…
1. Spring and Java
>> The API Gateway Pattern: Angular JS and Spring Security Part IV
A proxy/gateway is one of the core questions you need to answer when building your Spring webapp. It helps with quite a few things – CORS being one of them. So – this forth part in the new Spring Security with Angular series unfolding over on Spring Central is a very useful reference to have.
Also – I just removed a topic from my article TODO list – and I didn’t have to write a single word 
>> Spring 4 and Java 8
A quick guide on how Spring leverages Java 8 to write idiomatic code.
>> Hibernate locking patterns – How does Optimistic Lock Mode work
An interesting code-focused exploration of Hibernate optimistic locking and more importantly – the potential caveats of using it.
>> Reading Large Lines Slower in JDK 7 and JDK 8
I enjoy reading “Inspired by Actual Events” for these low level deep-dives into the Java language – and this one doesn’t disappoint. Here’s the followup to it.
>> Logging to Redis using Spring Boot and Logback
The ELK stack does wonders for logging – and this is an interesting variation on that. If you’re looking to improve the understanding of your application and your use of logging – this is an solid approach.
But of course the standard ELK stack is also a very good place to start.
>> Timeout support using ExecutorService and Futures
A quick introductory level article on working with a single thread executor and Java 8 streams.
Time to upgrade:
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>> Spring Data Evans SR 2 and Dijkstra SR 5 released
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>> JHipster 2.0 Released with AngularJS improvements, Liquibase diffs, and Spring WebSockets
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>> Spring XD 1.1 RC1 released
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>> Java 8 Auto-Update, Java 7 End of Public Update
2. Technical and Musings
>> Avoiding the Perfect Design
Pragmatism a clear “exit criteria” are missing in our industry.
You would think it’s a “young gun” mistake, but it’s not. As you’re reading this right now, someone with decades in the industry is crossing his fingers and signing off on The Big Rewrite. Why? Because – maybe this time…
So – maybe don’t do that, and maybe go read this one.
>> Agile Methodologies or Agile Software?
I try to stay away from the Agile writings here on Baeldung. That’s because most of the stuff I read on the subject is just serviceable – sometimes. With a few minor exceptions of course – such as Dan North – but he publishes once every blue moon. This one though – worth reading.
>> Taking the long view
“The long game” is an acquired skill, after you’ve been burned one to many times. And having the discipline to take the necessary steps and track the results long term can be the difference between a successful and a failed project.
>> All the Technology but None of the Love
Good advice.
>> Getting Started with AngularJS
Looks like a solid start with AngularJS – I plan to go through it over the weekend.
3. Comics
And my favorite Dilberts of the week:
>> We’re going to try something called Agile Programming
>> Please don’t hit me with your modem
>> Which answer gets us hired?
4. Pick of the Week
Earlier this year I introduced the “Pick of the Week” section here in my “Weekly Review”. If you’re already on my email list – you got the pick already – hope you enjoyed it.
If not – you can share the review and unlock it right here: