Tag Archives: programming

Don’t Use java.util.Optional

Posted on December 20, 2022 by agiletribeadmin

This is a class that attempts to replace null with different way to check for null.  While I can imagine some very rare cases that this could be useful, in general it is more complicated, slower, and takes more memory … Continue reading →

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Holographic Testing Technique

Posted on December 3, 2022 by agiletribeadmin

I write a lot of code, and I want there to be solid tests on that code.  Creating tests can be tedious, and that prevents many good tests from being written.  Also, because tests can be fragile, maintaining those tests … Continue reading →

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Good Error Messages Can Be Easy

Posted on December 31, 2020 by agiletribeadmin

Here is an error message I encountered one day.  It is frustrating, because obviously the code was checking something, but it is frustrating because you get no real clues what the problem really was, and a simple change would make … Continue reading →

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What is wrong with this code?

Posted on November 14, 2019 by keith swenson

It is code review time, and I offer a sample of Java code for you to critique.   Can you find the problems?

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Eliminate Useless Comments

Posted on October 18, 2019 by keith swenson

Be careful what you ask for.   I was reviewing some code that had absolutely no comments. I asked the developer to add some comment.   So, indeed they did, however the comments added no value to the code at all.   There … Continue reading →

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Let Me Save Incomplete Files

Posted on October 9, 2019 by keith swenson

This is a usability problem that I have run into a number of times.   A programmer writes a UI screen to receive a long list of inputs in order to create an object in system.  Save is enabled only when … Continue reading →

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Return Null or Exception?

Posted on May 11, 2019 by keith swenson

I am writing a getter function, and the requested object can not be found.  Do I return null?   Or do I throw an exception?  The answer is “it depends.”  Sometimes both options are needed, but how to decide?

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Variable Names & Key Values

Posted on May 7, 2019 by keith swenson

Constructing JSON in Java can be a bother.  The most standard JSON library requires objects to be created, and then called to put the members on there.  So much easier in JavaScript, but it is not Java script.  Still, one … Continue reading →

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Keep Things the "Same"

Posted on January 24, 2019 by keith swenson

This general design principle does not mean to never change anything, but to consciously create a paradigm where the same things have the same names and are accessed in the same way as much as possible.

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Constants and Errors

Posted on November 27, 2018 by keith swenson

Still reviewing that code base and finding more bad patterns for use of constants, this time for error messages.   This is another “don’t do this” post.

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