DevOps

Kubernetes Architecture Explained

How does Kubernetes work? And what makes it so successful? Despite its popularity, few software engineers have a good understanding of the inner mechanisms of Kubernetes such as declarative APIs and control loops. In this post, I’ll break down the Kubernetes architecture and highlight key aspects that have made

Newsletter

EP7: 5 Tips for Using ChatGPT in Domain-Driven Design

I'm back! During my absence from the newsletter these past months, I've been working very hard and learning a lot along the way. In particular, I've improved the way I leverage tools like ChatGPT in complex areas like Domain-Driven Design (DDD). In this episode,

Kubernetes

How to integrate cert-manager with Let's Encrypt and Cloudflare

If you're looking to automatically issue and renew certificates using cert-manager and Let's Encrypt for a domain record managed and proxied by Cloudflare using Full (strict) TLS, you're in the right place. The process is straightforward, and you'll have everything set up

Software Architecture

EP6: Entities vs Value Objects: Which one is better?

Deciding whether something should be an entity or a value object can be tricky even for developers experienced in domain-driven design. In this issue, I'll clarify the differences so we understand these concepts once and for all! Let's get started! Entities and Value Objects as Classes

Software Architecture

EP5: AI Coding Assistants, Eventual Consistency, Spring Boot and GraalVM

It has been almost two months from my last newsletter issue, so there's lot of ground we need to cover! Before we start, I want to apologize for not maintaining the regular cadence of the newsletter. However, as I mentioned on LinkedIn, my full time job demands most

Software Architecture

Spring Boot and GraalVM Native Images: A Match Made in Heaven?

In this article, I’ll share my experience with Spring Boot and GraalVM Native Images. We'll compare 'Just In Time' and 'Ahead Of Time' compilation, explore Spring Boot's support for both, and determine if Spring Boot and GraalVM are a match made

AI Coding Assistants

Is the NEW JetBrains AI better than GitHub Copilot? | My AI Setup July 2024

On the first of July, JetBrains announced improved code completion in their AI Assistant, so I subscribed to test it out and save you some time and money. Is it going to be better than Copilot? Let’s discover it in the next few minutes! Setting up To try out

Software Architecture

Eventual Consistency for Beginners

In this article, we will answer the following questions: What is eventual consistency? Is it better than strong consistency? And do we have any other option? Let’s discover it in the next few minutes! Strong Consistency Defined Strong consistency guarantees that read operations receive always the most recent data.

Newsletter

EP4: Time to ditch Google Analytics

This year, while giving a facelift to this website, I ditched Google Analytics for Plausible. It was the result of an important decision I made in the process: I wanted to give free content to my audience without cluttering the articles with ads or other intrusive software that could have

Software Architecture

Building Git with DDD and Clean Architecture

In this article, I want to show you how I apply domain driven design (DDD), as well as clean, onion and hexagonal architectures concepts when I design and code a simple application. Rather than giving you a set of rules or definitions, I will explain what my thinking process is.

Newsletter

EP4: Time to reconsider open source?

This is the fourth episode of my newsletter where we discuss Software Architecture, Leadership and Beyond. In this episode, we will focus on recent events that should impact our perception of open source. At the end, you will also find a summary of all the content I released in the

API Security

The highest API Security Risk: Broken Authorization

Authorization is difficult to implement and test because it’s multi-dimensional and requires a deeper understanding of our APIs. In this article, I’ll explain how authorization is broken and what we can do to protect our systems.

AI Coding Assistants

Codeium: The best GitHub Copilot Free Alternative

This week I discovered Codeium: a very good alternative to GitHub Copilot. It’s free for individual developers. It’s very responsive and enterprises can also host it on their own infrastructure. Let me tell you more. You can also watch or listen the content of this article on YouTube.

Newsletter

EP3: Avoiding Burnout and Analysis Paralysis

I started writing this newsletter issue back in October 2023. Eventually I did not publish it because I needed to give myself some time to recharge the batteries and relieve the pressure that had been mounting during my first year creating content on YouTube at a regular cadence. Content creation,

API Security

Broken Authentication Explained | OWASP API2:2023

Despite many developers and teams feel confident about the security of their APIs, Broken Authentication is still one of the top API security risks according to the Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP). In this article, we will understand why this issue is still so common and how we can

Software Architecture

The State Design Pattern Explained

The State Design Pattern is a behavioral design pattern that allows an object to change its behavior when its internal state changes. It was introduced in the famous “Gang of Four” book titled “Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software“. By the end of this article, you will have a

Software Architecture

The Hexagonal Architecture Explained | Ports and Adapters Pattern

In this article, we explore the Hexagonal Architecture, as outlined by Alistair Cockburn in 2005, commonly referred to as the ports and adapters pattern. I will explain from a theoretical standpoint but also offer a concrete example that I’ve shared on GitHub. At the end, we will compare the

AI Coding Assistants

GitHub Copilot vs JetBrains AI Assistant vs Duet AI

This article complements “Beware of AI Coding Assistants” by giving more insight on the comparison I did between GitHub Copilot, JetBrains AI Assistant and Duet AI by Google. As I already mentioned in the other article and related video, I decided to create a subscription with GitHub Copilot because it’

AI Coding Assistants

Beware of AI Coding Assistants | GitHub Copilot vs JetBrains AI Assistant

This article is the transcription of my video on AI Coding Assistants. As promised, I compared the most popular AI-powered coding assistants powered. The plan was to create a test and show you the results at the end of the article. However, I noticed immediately that I had more important

DevOps

How to fix MicroK8s restart loop

If you have enabled the cis-hardening plugin in your microk8s cluster, you might experience instability issues, especially after a node restart. In this article, I will explain the cause of this issue and how to fix microk8s in this scenario. Symptoms Sometimes it is not obvious that we have an

Software Architecture

The Clean Architecture Explained

This article is a transcription of my video on the Clean Architecture by Robert C. Martin. It is part of a series of videos where we analyze some of the most popular architecture styles such as the Onion Architecture and the Hexagonal Architecture. Let’s get started! Clean Architecture Motivation

Software Architecture

The Onion Architecture explained

Whether you are a junior or senior developer, it can be difficult to understand what the hexagonal, clean, or onion architectures are. But, most importantly, it’s difficult to figure out how to use them when coding a real application. In this video, we will start by demystifying the concepts

Software Architecture

DDD Aggregates Explained

Are you building software that’s meant to last? If so, you need to understand the importance of DDD aggregates in your domain model. Aggregates are essential to build reliable, maintainable, and scalable software that stands the test of time. But why do so many developers overlook this crucial concept?

Software Architecture

Event Sourcing and CQRS Explained (Are they worth the hassle?)

Event Sourcing and CQRS are possibly the most fascinating architectural patterns in the software world, especially when combined with an event-driven architecture (EDA). In this article, we explain both patterns highlighting advantages and disadvantages of these approaches. In the conclusion, I will give you my personal opinion on whether these

DevOps

GitOps Explained: Is it worth it?

If you’re thinking of adopting GitOps or want to know more about it, this is the right article for you. I’ll explain it and show its benefits, but most importantly I’ll cover the drawbacks which are not mentioned by other videos or blogs. I’ll stick to