With Oracle stopping free updates for Java 8 and effectively only maintaining free updates with the latest Java release (12 at the time of writing) a natural question arises… Which JDK should I use? This is a short article providing answers, depending on your circumstances. Let’s look at different scenarios that you may be facing: You are using Java 8 and want to keep Long Term Support (LTS) for free In this case, you should use Amazon Correto OpenJDK 8 distribution. Amazon Correto is a free JDK distribution that will provide you with free long term support: ...

I am quite excited to share with you “The Journey to DevOps” (announcement and the download link here ), the first white paper that I have published with my company Scott Logic . This white paper will help you: Understand the DevOps mindset Learn more about challenges facing public sector organisations when adopting DevOps Help you assess your DevOps maturity Present actionable advice on embarking on your DevOps journey Appreciate the value that comes from embracing DevOps If you are interested in reading more, download our white paper from Scott Logic blog: “The Journey to DevOps” – in PDF format .

We have all had quite a lot of time to get familiar with Java 8 and all the amazing features that it provided us with. Since then quite a lot have happened, with the release of Java 9, 10, 11 and this month 12 it is hard to stay on top of all the language changes happening! In here I will focus exclusively on the changes to the language leaving library changes to other writers. ...

To be a good software developer you need to know some things very well. You can’t get away without actually knowing your programming language of choice, or learning good software development practices. Beside mastering some skills, you should also have a large amount of general, high-level knowledge. This blog post is about this knowledge. The concept of “Just in time knowledge” The idea behind “Just in time knowledge” (from this point JITK) is to be able to get the knowledge that you need, only when you need it. For example, actually learning how to use Kafka, only when you need to work with Kafka. ...

Writing CV is a bit of a game. You are trying to create a short piece of writing, focused on yourself, that will get you to the interview. Ideally, this short text will also help set you up for a successful interview and boost your chances of landing a job. I have screened hundreds of CVs over the past few years, here I want to share with you some advice on how to win the CV game. ...

You might have heard of the 10,000-hour rule. It supposedly takes 10,000 hours of practice to become a master at something. This number will, of course, vary depending on what you are trying to master- some skills have a much higher bar than that, others may be easier. What is also important is the quality of that practice. In this blog post I will look at different ways you can carry out a deliberate practice as a developer. ...

Happy New Year to all my readers! I hope you missed these blog posts at least a little bit. I had a good rest during the festive period and feel ready to start writing and hacking again. In this article, I want to tell you about my most recent fascination- programming for Alexa (Echo) enabled devices. What is Alexa You probably know all about Alexa, but let’s make sure that we are all on the same page. Alexa is a virtual assistant developed by Amazon that can leave in different devices. Most popular of those are probably the Echo series developed by Amazon. Here is my Echo Spot: ...

I wanted to write 2 blog posts a week in 2018, which would result in at least 100 blog posts in a year… This is the number 100! I could not be happier! In this centenary blog post, I look back at the journey that took me here. I will also share with you some of the ideas for this blog in 2019. Beginning of the blog I have started this blog in January with a short, a bit vague explanation of why . After publishing that first blog post, I quickly came up with an idea of writing at least twice a week- I had plenty to say! ...

The topic of software architecture comes up often when discussing microservices. Many newcomers to microservices are not sure how to handle discussing architecture and how to make decisions. Should they bring the more traditional role of the software architect, or should everyone just do what they think makes sense? In this article, I will give you my answers to these questions and share some additional advice. The high-level view of the entire system First of all, regardless of what you decide is a good approach to handling architectural decisions, you need to know what your system looks like. ...

Today I want to talk to you about technical debt. This is a topic that comes up a lot and often generates some emotions. Developers often want to have a minimal amount of technical debt. Some will go through great efforts to eliminate any technical debt they see. Let me tell you what I think about it all. Different type of technical debt First of all, it is a bit simplistic to just classify all technical debt as the same thing. I have read a few attempts at classifying it- Types of Technical Debt by Agile Mike and There are 3 main types of technical debt. Here’s how to manage them. FirstMark make for interesting reading. ...