Java Featured Java's Optional has a Problem Introduction Java's Optional is over a decade old, and has been subject to intense debate since long before its release. With this in mind, I will argue a particular aspect of its design was a rather unfortunate mistake, and show how it can lead to bugs. I will
Java From Zero to Hello World with Apache Kafka® in 2025 Introduction This is a guide on how to run Apache Kafka® locally, and how to start using it. I found the resources I used myself to be needlessly and frustratingly complicated, as well as outdated. Thus my goal is to give a simple set of instructions that works almost everywhere,
Programming Core Concepts in Apache Kafka® Introduction This post is intented to give a high-level description of the basic components of Apache Kafka® (Kafka) for someone that is entirely new to it, and that is sufficient to get building. For significantly more detail and nuance, refer to the official documentation. Records Records are the fundamental units
Dotfiles alacritty.toml Alacritty is my favourite terminal because it is very usable out of the box and noticeably more performant than alternatives. My preferred location for the dotfile (the application checks several locations) is ~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.toml. The SauceCodePro Nerd Font must be installed separately from https://www.nerdfonts.com/font-downloads.
Programming .gitconfig This is my .gitconfig that I have mostly stolen shamelessly from people on the internet that are much more intimately familiar with git than I am. Without further ado: [user] name = <Your Name Here> email = <Your Email Here> [core] autocrlf = input # Convert CRLF to LF on
