Rethinking Javadoc
Javadoc is an unambiguously useful tool. It should, however, be easier for API developers to provide customized documentation. This applies to the structure of the documentation as well as individual stylesheets. In this post we'll offer another XML-generating doclet, and several XSL transformations to help those who want to branch out.
[ In Development ]
QCM: Configuration Management System
The problem of managing configuration data in multiple environments is faced by almost every development team. QCM is an application that allows users to compare data in different instances of the same schema, and make all necessary updates as one migrates data from one environment to another. It's ideal for development teams that work in heavily regulated environments.
[ In Development ]
A Useful Extension of the Spring MVC Framework
In what follows we'll consider a straightforward extension of the Spring MVC framework designed to support Web applications that display lists of data. The API includes a controller that exposes the required operations, including sorting and filtering of the displayed list. Also included are several important utility classes that the controller relies upon, and a simple extension point for developers.
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Parameterized Typesafe Constants
Conventional methods of accessing externalized text do not provide adequate guarantees that application code is rigorously correct. This lack of rigor can lead to significant maintenance problems, particularly in large applications where the consequences of loose APIs are accentuated. By using parameterized typesafe constants, one can provide such guarantees while exploiting conventional APIs.
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Data Driven Unit Testing With Excel
Generating test data and expected results that can be used as input to standard JUnit test cases can be time consuming and complicated, especially when one is testing an involved calculation. It can also be difficult to satisfy clients that finished software is correct when the test data and expected outcomes are obscured. For a certain class of calculations, Excel provides a bridge that solves many of these problems.
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Software Metrics
Automated code analysis is an important part of maintaining and improving software quality. There are excellent tools available, for example, to explore unit test coverage, to uncover cyclic dependencies among packages, or to locate blocks of repeated code. Together with active code inspection, these tools can help identify sticky problems and give essential guidance to refactoring decisions. Such tools are not a substitute for good judgment; instead, they can streamline and inform the hard work of making sound judgments.
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Sensible Interface-Implementation Separation
Core service interfaces should always be separated from the code that implements them. This short article will demonstrate an approach to preventing unwanted dependencies upon service-implementation code from within core application software.
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