API - Hypermedia Specifications

To make Hypermedia implementation easier, there are linking specifications already in existence. Each specification is slightly different. Let's try to compare different -2 specifications.

Referenced from Undisturbed Rest

	Strength	Weaknesses
Collection + JSON	Strong choice for Collections          Templated queries          Early wide adoption          Recognized as a standard	JSON only          Lack of identifier for documentation          More complex/ difficult to implement
HAL	Dynamic          Nestable          Easy to read/implement          Multi-format          URL templating          Inclusion of documentation          Wide adoption          Strong community          Recognized as a standard hypermedia spec          RFC proposed	JSON/XML format architecturally different          CURIE’s are tightly coupled
JSON LD	Strong format for data linking          Can be used across multiple data formats          Strong community          Large working groups          Recognized by W3C as standard	JSON-Only          More complex to integrate/interpret          No identifier for documentation
CPHL	Designed for cross-platform consistency; allows loosely coupled documentation          Incorporates API Definitions          Method and code on demand          Allows for multiple formats while also providing a strict naming structure for common actions	Poor adoption/not heavily tested          Can become bloated          Work in progress          Listed as brainstorming documents
SIREN	Provides a more verbose spec          Query templating and form fields          Incorporates actions          Multi-format	Poor adoption          Lacks documentation          Work in progress
JSON API	Simple versatile format          Easy to read/implement          Flat link grouping          URL templating          Wide adoption          Strong community          Recognized as hypermedia standards	JSON-Only          Lack of Identifier for documentation          Still, work in progress

API Development Glossary

API - Application Programming Interface
CRUD - Create Update and Delete
CPHL - Cross Plateform Hypertext Language
CORS - Cross-origin Resource Sharing
DDD - Domain-Driven Design
ESB - Enterprise Service Bus
JSON - Javascript Object Notation
HTTP - Hypertext transfer protocol
HTML - Hypertext markup language
HATEOAS - Hypermedia as the Engine of Application of State
REST - Representational State transfer
RPC - Remote Procedure Call
RAML - RESTFul API Modeling Language
SOAP - Simple Object Access Protocol
SOA - Service Oriented Architecture
SDD - Spec Driven Design ( API development perspective)
SLA - Service Level Agreement
URL - Uniform Resource Location
URI - Unified Resource Identifier
WSDL - Webservice Definition Language
XML - Extensible Markup Language
YAML - Yet Another Markup Language

Unit Testing with Mockito

Mockito is a mocking framework, It lets you write tests with a clean & simple API. Following steps need to be performed to test your code using Mockito.

1) Include following dependency in your pom.xml

2) Annotate Test class with @RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)

3) Use annotation  @Mock or mock() for creating mocks.

4) Use annotation  @InjectMocks for  injecting mocks/spies fields annotated with @Spy or @Mock

5) Use annotation @Spy or spy() for partial mocking, real methods are invoked but still can be verified and stubbed

6) Use annotation @Before for method if something you want be applied for all your tests. For example if you want to mock dependency which is applicable for all test methods.

7) Use verify()  to check methods were called with given arguments

8) Finally @Test annotation for testing methods.

Here is the complete example of Test class using Mockito

a) Class which needs to be mocked and tested 

b) Test Class 

This example will give you fair Idea how to mock Class and Test it using mockito. In next blog, I shall be covering some of other aspects as well like mocking Future Interface or using Spy, Use of Before and Mocking Rest Controllers of Spring.

Creating Thread using Extending Thread Class

Here is an example of creating thread using extending Thread class mechanism. Moreover, example also help you to understand, how to pass the values to thread and use different methods like Sleep, interrupt etc.

Creating Thread using Implementing Runnable Interface

Here is an example for creating thread and passing values to it.
There are two ways to create thread in java
1) Implementing Runnable Interface
2) Extending Thread Class
This example uses first option

Finding object in List ( Use of Contain)

Here is an example of searching object in List. Trying to list down all possible ways of finding object from List.
1) Searching String from list.
2) Searching Employee Object using contain method
2) Using Stream API (Java 8)

Immutable Class in java

Here is the example, how to create immutable Class in java

package com.nitesh;

import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.Date;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * Don't provide "setter" methods — methods that modify fields or objects referred to by fields.
 * Make all fields final and private.
 * Don't allow subclasses to override methods. The simplest way to do this is to declare the class as final. A more sophisticated approach is 
 * to make the constructor private and construct instances in factory methods.
 * If the instance fields include references to mutable objects, don't allow those objects to be changed:
 * Don't provide methods that modify the mutable objects.
 * Don't share references to the mutable objects. Never store references to external, mutable objects passed to the constructor; if necessary, create copies, 
 * and store references to the copies. Similarly, create copies of your internal mutable objects when necessary to avoid returning the originals in your methods.
 * @author Nitesh.Gupta
 *
 */
public final class MyImmuatable {
/**
* Final Integer field, Integer is anyways immutable
*/
private final Integer immutableField1;
/**
* Final String field
*/
private final String immutableField2;
/**
* Final Date object which is mutable and need to be taken care explicitly
*/
private final Date immutableField3;
/**
* Final List Object which is mutable 
*/
private final List immutableField4;
/**
* Constructor which is taking all inputs through parameters
* @param immutableField1
* @param immutableField2
* @param immutableField3
* @param immutableField4
*/
public  MyImmuatable (Integer immutableField1, String immutableField2, Date immutableField3,List immutableField4){
this.immutableField1 = immutableField1;
this.immutableField2 = immutableField2;
this.immutableField3 = new Date(immutableField3.getTime());
this.immutableField4 = Collections.unmodifiableList(immutableField4);
}

public Integer getImmutableField1() {
return immutableField1;
}

public String getImmutableField2() {
return immutableField2;
}

public Date getImmutableField3() {
return immutableField3;
}

public List getImmutableField4() {
return immutableField4;
}

@Override
public String toString() {
return "MyImmuatable [immutableField1=" + immutableField1 + ", immutableField2=" + immutableField2
+ ", immutableField3=" + immutableField3 + ", immutableField4=" + immutableField4 + "]";
}


}

Singleton Class in Java

Here is the example of complete singleton class which implements Cloenable and Serializable as well.

Read inline java comments for more details

package com.nitesh;

import java.io.Serializable;
/**
 * This class returns singleton Object and tries to handle all possible cases to avoid
 * creating multiple instance of MySingleton Class
 * Following given steps 
 * 1) Created INSTANCE of same class by instantiating class & this INSTANCE should be with private & static modifier
 * 2) Provide public static method that returns same INSTANCE of class every time
 * 3) Create private constructor so that no-one create object from outside of class
 * 4) Providing private constructor helps to suppress creating objects either by new operator/keyword or refection API & newInstance() method
 * 5) Implementing Serializable interface, and override readResolve() method and return same INSTANCE
 * 6) Implementing Cloneable interface and overridden clone() method and throw CloneNotSupportedException();
 *  @author Nitesh.Gupta
 *
 */
public class MySingleton implements Cloneable, Serializable {

private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
/**
* Creating a INSTANCE of same class by instantiating class & this INSTANCE should be with private & static modifier
* and with EAGER Loading (creating object using new operator)
*/
private static MySingleton instance = new MySingleton();
/**
* Private constructor to avoid creating instance from outside class.
* Moreover, checking object reference if someone tries to create object using reflection.
*/
private MySingleton() {
if (instance == null) {
throw new IllegalStateException();
}
}
/**
* Static method for returning single object of MySingleton Object 
* @return Object of MySingleton
*/
public static MySingleton getInstance() {
return instance;
}
/**
* ReadResolve method to avoid creating new instance in case of De-serialization 
* @return same object
*/
public Object readResolve() {
return getInstance();
}
/**
* Overriding clone method throwing CloneNotSupportedException exception if 
* someone tries to clone this class
*/
@Override
protected Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException {

throw new CloneNotSupportedException();

}
}

Java Thread Example

In this example, Five Threads are being invoked which takes input as Integer and prepare table. Also, Used some of methods like Sleep and isInterrupted to understand its uses.

package test;
/**
 * MyThread2 class which creates thread by extending Thread Class
 * @author Nitesh.Gupta
 */
public class MyThread2 extends Thread {
/**
* Initializing count with 1
*/
private int count=1;
/**
* MyThread constructor which takes an input and assign it to class level variable
* @param count
*/
MyThread2 (int count){
this.count = count;
}
/**
* Run method which gets executed as soon as thread.run called.
*/
@Override
public void run() {
calculateTable();
}
/**
* Helper method for calucalting table
*/
private void calculateTable() {
System.out.println("Thread started:::"+Thread.currentThread().getName());
for (int i=1; i<=10 ; i++){
int counting = i * count;
System.out.println("Table of " + i + " Prepared by Thread "+this.getId() +" Name "+this.getName());
System.out.println("Count of " + count + "*" + i + "=" +counting);
}
}
public static void main (String str[]) throws InterruptedException{
for (int k=1; k<5 font="" k="">
Thread.sleep(1000);
MyThread2 t1 = new MyThread2(k);
t1.start();
//IsInterrupted method to check if thread is interrupted in between or not
if (t1.isInterrupted()){
throw new InterruptedException();
}
}
}
}

Swagger 2 Configurations for documenting Spring web REST services with and without Security settings

Swagger is a specification and complete framework implementation for describing, producing, consuming, and visualizing RESTful web services. The goal of Swagger is to enable client and documentation systems to update at the same pace as the server. The documentation of methods, parameters, and models are tightly integrated into the server code, allowing APIs to always stay in sync.

Part 1 - Swagger Configuration without Authentication 

Step 1 - Adding Maven dependency in Pom.xml

Pom.xml

It will download all required jars for documentation and respective Swagger UI.

Step 2 - Integration of Swagger2 in project

a) Use the EnableSwagger2 annotation on your MVCconfiguration file

b) Add Resource Handlers for Swagger UI in Mvc Configuration file

c) Write your Swagger Configuration file (SwaggerConfig.java) and give reference in main configuration file 




d) If your project implements Spring security then you will have to by pass the security for swagger ui components

1) Add swgger related url patterns in web ignoring list. 



2) Authorize Swaggar related URL patterns.

@Overrideprotected void configure(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {

  http.authorizeRequests()    
 .antMatchers("/webjars/**","/configuration/**","/swagger-resources/**","/v2/api-docs/**", "/swagger-ui.html").access("permitAll") // Allow all users to access these urls. 
}

After doing all configuration start the server and verify if you are able see swagger ui by hitting below url

http://localhost:8080/test/swagger-ui.html

It should list all your exposed services which are annotated with @RestController. you can also change this by setting Request Handler Selector.

Part 2 - Swagger Configuration with Authentication - 

To achieve security, you need to do few more steps top of what we did in part 1 of this blog 

1) Set Security Settings in SwaggerConfig

2) Updating Security Config.java

Write custom filter and add into HttpSecurity

3) Custom Filter for authenticating user. However, you can write your own implementation and authenticate request coming from SWAGGER UI.

RDBMS vs NoSQL

Nice article. So rather writing it from scratch. I thought sharing this with everyone. RDBMS vs NoSQL

Composition vs Inheritance in OOPS

Composition - Having a Has-A relationship and simply uses instance variable that are references of other objects.

Inheritance - Having IS-A relationship and simply access state and behaviour of other object by inheriting it. 

Ex. Hyundai is-A Car (Inheritance) Has-A Engine (Composition)

Properties	Inheritance	Composition
Flexibility	When you use Inheritance, you have to define which class you are extending in code; it cannot be changed at runtime.	Composition you just define a Type which you want to use, which can hold its different implementation.
Code Reuse	Inheritance you can only extend one class, which means you code can only reuse just one class, not more than one.	If you want to leverage functionalities from multiple classes, you must use Composition.
Unit Testing	When you design your class using Inheritance, you must need parent class in order to test child class. There is no way you can provide mock implementation of parent class.	When you design classes using Composition they are easier to test because you can supply mock implementation of the classes you are using
Final Classes	You cannot inherit final classes, hence you cannot reuse code of final class	Composition allows code reuse even from final classes
Encapsulation	Inheritance breaks encapsulation because in case of Inheritance, sub class is dependent upon super class behaviour. If parent classes changes its behaviour than child class is also get affected. If classes are not properly documented and child class has not used the super class in a way it should be used, any change in super class can break functionality in sub class.	Composition doesn't break encapsulation.If main class changes its behaviour then calling class doesn't get affected.

• Don't use inheritance just to get code reuse If all you really want is to reuse code and there is no is-a relationship in sight, use composition.
• Don't use inheritance just to get at polymorphism If all you really want is polymorphism, but there is no natural is-a relationship, use composition with interfaces.