Interesting Links, 15 Feb 2016

  • A great quote from ##java: < surial> maven/gradle are to ant, as svn is to cvs.
  • JavaCPP is a new project that attempts to bridge a gap between C++ and Java, entering the muddy waters along with JNI and JNA (as well as a few other such projects). It actually looks pretty well done – and targets Android as well as the JVM, which seems like a neat trick.
  • First in a couple from DZone: “Reactive Programming by Example: Hands-On with RxJava and Reactor” is a presentation (thus a video) of a use of RxJava. Reactive programming is one way to introduce a scalable processing model to your code, although it’s hardly the only one (and it’s not flawless, either, so if you’re one of the anti-reactive people, cool your jets, it’s okay). If you’ve been wondering what this whole reactive thing is, here’s another chance to learn.
  • Speaking of learning: “Monads: It’s OK to Feel Stupid” punts on the idea of describing what a monad is, saying that it’s okay if you don’t understand them – you can use them anyway. (Java’s streams provide a lot of access to functionality through monads, which present “computations represented as sequences of steps.”)
  • The 5 Golden Rules of Giving Awesome Customer Support” goes through some basic things to think about for, of all things, customer support. (Surprise!) The things are topics, not good headings, but one thing they didn’t point out was that people who use your open source software library are customers, too. You’ll want to read the article to get more relevance out of the headings. The points are:
    • All users are customers
    • Your customer took the time
    • Your customer is abrasive and demanding
    • Your customer doesn’t understand your product
    • Your customer doesn’t care about your workflows