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  • in Java
  • 4 min read

Lessons Learned from JUnit and Refactoring

JUnit testing just makes sense. But writing tests is certainly a skill and your tests can have a big impact on how you structure your code. Sometimes a sensible bit of refactoring can have a large impact, particularly if the code or unit tests were not written in the best way.

It is inevitable that some code will need to interact with a database, and that database will not be available when the unit tests run. There are multiple approaches for handling code that cannot run in a test.

  • in Domino
  • 5 min read

Developing RunJava Addins for Domino

Most Domino developers use Windows because that's the only platform Domino Designer runs on. For most of my application development life, my main device has been a Dell laptop of some variety for this reason. For almost a decade now I've also been running a Windows Domino server because Domino Designer local preview is not an effective test environment for a Domino web application. If you're using source control you are also usually testing locally unless you're developing cloud functions. So for development, you typically want a Domino server, and if you're using Domino Designer, the easiest server install to develop against is a Windows Domino server. If you want Linux on Windows and you're using Windows Professional, Docker is a sensible approach, if you take some time to understand port access from Docker.

  • in Domino
  • 3 min read

DQL Explorer and Domino

A couple of weeks ago I explained that, even though the UI of DQL Explorer is a React app, the use of DQL is in agents. The two key agents, found within the NSF itself are runDQLExplain and runDQLQuery - the purpose of each should be apparent from the name. But the purpose of this blog post is to outline the interaction points between DQL Explorer and Domino.

  • in Domino
  • 3 min read

DQL: What Is It Good For?

tl;dr - anything you're doing on Domino, but the message doesn't seem to have reached everyone.

DQL has been at the forefront of my radar since Domino V10 over a year ago. If I remember correctly, documentation wasn't immediately available in Domino Designer's Help, but was soon published online. It's been at the heart of sessions and advances ever since. It's often been discussed alongside the app dev pack, which allows Node.js applications to interact with Domino via the proton task. And judging from a couple of discussions in different fora over the last week, it appears the connection between DQL and the app dev pack seems a little too close. It seems to have led some to ignore DQL assuming it's only for Node.js development.

  • in Editorial
  • 4 min read

Travels In Manila

As I sit in the airport awaiting my flights back to the UK, I'm reflecting on a busy and eventful 10 days in Manila. For those not aware, in addition to some global members of the team, the bulk of the HCL Labs technical team are based in Manila in the Philippines. This was my first chance to meet the team in person, as well as my first chance since joining HCL to sit down with Stephan Wissel in person. Those who were at Collabsphere got a sneak peek at what the team has been working on. But with the start of 2020, it's time to ramp up planning for the user groups and factory tours this year, starting with Engage.

  • in Vert.x
  • 3 min read

Vert.x and JUnit Testing

My experience with unit testing with either JUnit or TestNG is limited. With Domino development, business logic is often tightly coupled to accessing the underlying database. That makes automated testing a challenge. Similarly, the development of OpenNTF Domino API has been typically focused on code that interacts with the Domino server and databases, again making automated testing challenging. Where data persistence and the database-layer API is the main focus of the development, creating mock classes doesn't really bring much benefit. So it was Watson Workspace Java SDK which was my main experience of JUnit testing. Unit tests make a lot of sense where the business logic is about managing REST service access, both inbound and outbound.

  • in Editorial
  • 2 min read

Congratulations to 2020 HCL Masters

This week is going to be a big week for the HCL Digital Solutions brands and it started late last night with the announcement of the 2020 crop of HCL Mastershttps://www.cwpcollaboration.com/class_of_2020.html. Congratulations to all who were selected, it continues HCL's commitment to the community and those who go above and beyond to bring benefits to all who use the products.

  • in Domino
  • 4 min read

Domino on Docker - Some Learning Points

About a year ago I did a blog post on Domino on Docker, with the intention to follow it up on developing against that Domino Docker server via Notes Client and integrating with it from other Docker containers or outside of Docker. Unfortunately other things got in the way, and it then got put on hold pending the work Thomas Hampel and Daniel Nashed were doing on the IBM repository for Domino on Docker and Roberto Boccadoro's Domino on Docker guide posted on OpenNTF's wiki guides site.