Search feels fast when the index is honest about what it stores and what it throws away. Lucene gives you all the knobs, but your analyzer and write path decide whether you get speed, recall, or a pile of tiny segments crying for help. Analyzer choice is a product decision…
Year: 2009
Android UI Patterns: Lists, Cards, and Gestures
Android feels different this month. The Droid landed on Verizon, Eclair shipped, and the Market is getting crowded with apps that finally look and feel like they belong on a pocket computer. If you are building today, you are probably trying to answer a simple question that turns out to…
Sending Email with JavaMail: Templates and TLS
I once spent a long night hunting a phantom bug. The app said the email was sent. The logs agreed. The mailbox stayed empty. Turned out the SMTP server wanted TLS and I was talking plain old port 25 like it was still dial up time. Switched to STARTTLS on…
Using KDevelop for Java Projects
KDevelop is known as a home base for C and C plus plus, yet I keep coming back to it for Java projects on Linux. With Oracle buying Sun and everyone guessing what that means for NetBeans, and with Eclipse Galileo everywhere, you might wonder why anyone would wire Java…
RPC versus REST in GWT: Tradeoffs
REST is everywhere in blog chatter, while many GWT teams still ship apps with classic RPC. If you are building a snappy front end on top of Java today, this choice shapes your server code and your day to day debugging. GWT RPC feels like home for a Java shop….
Migrating from JBoss to Lighter Stacks
Migrating from JBoss to lighter stacks for real teams with real deadlines. A practitioner view with lessons that travel well. We shipped not when we added more servers, but when we removed the ones we did not need. Why teams move on from JBoss JBoss gave many of us our…
Performance Pitfalls in Collections: Big-O Meets Reality
Performance Pitfalls in Collections: Big-O Meets Reality. Java Collections from a practitioner point of view with timeless lessons. If you have ever picked a structure because the chart said O of one or O of log n, this is for you. Context Sun is on its way into Oracle, Java…
Homelab Virtualization: Learning on Old Hardware
Start where you are. Use what you have. Learn with intent. Homelab virtualization on old hardware is not just a budget move. It is a training ground. If you want to learn VMware ESXi, Hyper V, or XenServer without emptying your wallet, the gear from a few years back can…
From Servlets to REST: Evolving Endpoints
\n From Servlets to REST: Evolving Endpoints. Servlets from a practitioner’s perspective with timeless lessons. \n\n\n\n Context \n\n\n\n Web teams keep asking the same question in standups and hallway chats. Should we keep pushing everything through Servlets or lean into REST style endpoints with cleaner URLs and plain HTTP? With…
Maven for Repeatable Builds
You can ship fast or you can ship twice. The teams that ship once usually have repeatable builds.If your jar changes from laptop to laptop, you are not unlucky, you just need Maven to keep your house in order. Maven is not a silver bullet, but for repeatable builds it…