Most of my time developing software so far has been with the back-end, I had to learn a decent amount about specific algorithms and because of the languages I worked with especially Java, learning about the Garbage Collection is something that’s been on my mind for a while. Overall, my time spent actually researching the Garbage Collector for Java has been very limited, all I knew was the baselines of the algorithms and the base of the functionality. While searching for some posts and information about the GC I came across a video from Inside Java that went over the Z Garbage Collector. Here is the link to said video, https://inside.java/2023/04/23/levelup-zgc/?utm_source=blog.quastor.org&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=scaling-microservices-at-doordash. For a quick summary of what is discussed in the video, there are multiple garbage collector types for Java, most of which are usually used in different scenarios. A quick description is given of these garbage collectors and some of their strengths in terms of throughput, memory footprint, latency and scalability. After discussing these, we learn more about ZGC which first released in a jdk11 development build for testing. Comparatively, ZGC is far better than pretty much every other GC in terms of scalability, heap allocation, latency and just overall performance. ZGC especially in terms of pause times is so much better that most other GC have a pause time in the terms of milliseconds, while ZGC has pause times in terms of microseconds. With accessibility in mind, when doing performance tuning for ZGC it is way easier, after jdk 17, it auto-adjusts itself to handle the amount of threads it will need for garbage collection, aside from that there is only the max heap allocation that the user should worry about tuning as well. The reason I am mostly interested in these types of algorithms and garbage collection systems in general is because many of the projects I’ve developed rely on them to be as efficient as possible, removing the unused data and keeping memory usage down. After listening to this I will most certainly either start using ZGC for my applications or do more research on the topic because for the most part I never paid too much attention to what GC my applications were using, it didn’t matter to me since I was uninformed on what exactly they did. Now that I know more about how specific GC’s function I’m most certainly going to start and try to apply ZGC to most of my projects as it seems it will be the most efficient for me.

From the blog CS@Worcester – CS Blog by Mike and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Earlier in this course, I learned about UML diagrams, how to read them, how to make them, and so on. This section of the class stuck with me as I thought it was pretty interesting how we use these diagrams to “visualize” our code. I thought I’d gain some more insight on UML diagrams and possibly more on how they are used in the real world.

For those who aren’t so familiar with UML diagrams, let me give you some background. UML stands for “Unified Modeling Language” and is “a way to visually represent the architecture, design, and implementation of complex software systems” (Lucidchart). These diagrams can be generally divided into two types, structural and behavioral. Both types of UML diagrams are pretty self-explanatory but structural UML diagrams display the various pieces of a system and how they are related while behavioral UML diagrams show how the system “interacts with itself and with users, other systems, and other entities” (Lucidchart).

In this blogpost from Lucidchart, one of the first things that caught my eye was under the section “Why should you use UML diagrams?” Of the four bullet points, three of them had me nodding my head in agreement, these were:

• Bring new team members or developers switching teams up to speed quickly.
• Plan out new features before any programming takes place.
• Communicate with technical and non-technical audiences more easily.

To me, these points make perfect sense. I’m not very familiar with how development teams work in the real world but I assume that there are plenty of developers and others that may come and go in companies, groups, and such. It may sound like a simple switch or change but that new person may have no idea what they will be working on or how it will be worked on. UML diagrams could help them adjust more quickly and help them understand their role, team, and work better. As for planning, simply adding a new piece to the diagram to indicate a new piece of the system could help display the relationships to what they already have. And finally, UML diagrams are much easier to digest than multiple files, classes, blocks of code, and such, especially for those who are not developers. A customer may want some update or insight into what they are spending their money on, and so, teams can simply show them a UML diagram and point out where they are and where they plan to go.

Blogpost: https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/types-of-UML-diagrams

From the blog CS@Worcester – Kyler's Blog by kylerlai and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

In the realm of software development and design, UML (Unified Modeling Language) class diagrams play a pivotal role. The blog post “UML Class Diagram Explained with Examples” by Algomaster provides a comprehensive overview of class diagrams, illustrating their importance in modeling the structure of a system.

Code, while essential for functionality, is not always the best medium for conveying complex relationships between components. To address this challenge, the Unified Modeling Language (UML) class diagram provides an abstract visual representation of the structure of a system. The blog post by Algomaster, offers a detailed explanation of UML class diagrams, including key concepts such as classes, attributes, methods, and associations. This resource was particularly relevant to our recent assignment on Modeling with UML Class Diagrams, where we were tasked with designing class diagrams to represent a student-course scheduling system.

The blog post breaks down the structure of UML class diagrams, explaining each component in detail with accompanying examples. The tutorial begins by outlining the core elements of a class diagram, including classes, attributes, methods, and associations.

I selected this blog post because it provides a clear, concise explanation of UML class diagrams and their practical application, which directly ties into the Modeling with UML Class Diagrams assignment. This resource helped me better understand how to translate Java code into a UML diagram by identifying key components such as classes, attributes, and methods. Additionally, the visual nature of the tutorial, with its real-life examples, made it easier to grasp abstract concepts and apply them to my assignment.

I feel more confident in my ability to design and interpret UML class diagrams. Visit the original post on Algomaster: UML Class Diagram Explained with Examples.

From the blog SoftwareDiary by Oanh Nguyen and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

After spending some time exploring algorithms and blogs, I came across a post on a consistent hashing algorithm. I have had an interest in hashing and have found growing use for hashing algorithms as my classes and programming complexity progresses. This article is found on highscalability.com, and it is focused on providing a tutorial to understand how to use a consistent hashing algorithm for partitioning and load-balancing. The article’s title is Consistent Hashing Algorithm by NK

The blog identifies consistent hashing as an algorithm used to distribute data across multiple nodes in a distributed system, minimizing data movement when nodes are added or removed. It works by placing both nodes and data keys on a virtual hash ring. A virtual hash ring is a technique where each node is assigned a position on the ring based on the hash value of its identifier. The blog explains further that data keys are also hashed to determine their position on the rin as well. When a key needs to be stored or retrieved, the system traverses the ring in a clockwise direction until it finds the first node that is closest to the key’s hash position. This method ensures that only a small portion of the data needs to be redistributed when nodes are added or removed, making the system more easily scalable. The blog identifies these strategies and techniques to be best used in web development to handle caches. Through several figures, NK identifies as a way to improve load balancing and avoid hotspots, consistent hashing can use virtual versions of these nodes, where each physical node is mapped to multiple positions on the ring virtually. This technique can be essential for scaling distributed systems, like caching systems and distributed databases, that need to handle dynamic loads while maintaining high availability.

This is a topic that interested me greatly as I have–in conversations with friends in Computer Science–been consistently recommended to learn more about hashing. Through the CS-343 course, I have been looking for more ideas for algorithms and techniques to learn to improve my understanding as my senior year progresses. I will be prepared to answer questions regarding consistent hashing thanks to this article. This is of great value to me as I will continue to look for more on this topic, as I explore software development. While I did not cover every example or style found in the article, I found it all extremely interesting and comprehensive. This blog has many examples and well-made figures to explain things in a simple manner, and I will continue to use highscalability to learn more.

Source:https://highscalability.com/consistent-hashing-algorithm/

From the blog CS@Worcester – WSU CS Blog: Ben Gelineau by Ben Gelineau and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Ever work with code that feels like it’s about to fall apart? That’s often due to design smells, which are signs of poor design that make code harder to work with. Here’s a quick rundown of six big ones: Rigidity, Fragility, Immobility, Viscosity, Needless Complexity, Needless Repetition, and Opacity

1. Rigidity

Rigidity is when code is hard to change. You try to update a small feature, and suddenly you’re changing ten other things just to make it work. This makes the code stiff, leading to slow updates and frustration.

2. Fragility

Fragility means that the code breaks easily. A small change in one part of the codebase suddenly causes errors all over. Fragile code is typically too tightly coupled, meaning different parts rely too much on each other, making even minor updates risky.

3. Immobility

Immobility happens when you can’t easily reuse code in other projects. Maybe you’ve written a method that could be helpful elsewhere, but it relies on so many project-specific details that you can’t transfer it without dragging a ton of dependencies. Immobile code wastes potential and limits flexibility.

4. Viscosity

Viscosity means the code is easier to “quick-fix” than fix the right way. The messy design makes doing things properly so difficult that developers often take shortcuts, creating even more technical debt. Viscous code tempts us to compromise, resulting in even messier code over time.

5. Needless Complexity

Needless complexity is adding extra, unneeded elements to the code. This could be because someone thought, “We might need this someday,” or because they’re solving non-existent problems. Extra complexity doesn’t just add confusion; it makes the code harder to read, test, and debug. Simple solutions are usually best.

6. Needless Repetition

Needless repetition is when you see similar code blocks everywhere instead of consolidating them. When you repeat code instead of centralizing it, it violates the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle. This makes code harder to maintain, as changes need to be made in multiple places instead of just one.

7. Opacity

Opacity is when code is confusing and hard to read. Maybe variable names don’t make sense, logic is overly complex, or comments are missing. Opaque code is like a puzzle, requiring extra time to understand, and slowing down productivity.

Why It Matters

Design smells don’t stop your code from working, but they make it harder to understand, change, and maintain. Ignoring them means the code gets more frustrating to deal with over time. By refactoring to remove these smells, you make the code cleaner, easier to work with, and more enjoyable for everyone on your team. Next time you’re reviewing code, look out for these design smells, your future self will thank you!

From the blog CS@Worcester – Anairdo's WSU Computer Science Blog by anairdoduri and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This article by
Jeff Gothelf asks the question “Is Agile finally over?” after 20+ years of
implementation to tech field. He argues that even though Agile’s widespread
adaptation hasn’t got the result that Agile was intended for. Many companies
claimed to be “Agile” as they copy each other, but the implementation of it was
shallow or almost non-existent to make changes according to it. Therefore, he
says that agile does not seems working as companies try to make employee follow
set of rules instead of working in following the basic principles of Agile. He
concluded that organizations need to focus on true organizational agility
rather than rigid framework adoption.

This article
caught my attention while searching through the internet as it criticizes Agile’s
current status in the business world as ideal of agile does not really fit in
reality in organization experience. The vague promises and core ideas are often
overlooked to the ‘wants’ of either customer or the organization. The output is
never about efficient program but a program that works made in short amount
time. In the end, it feels like the organization’s internal culture and goals
must align with the methods it adopts to fully be efficient which does not seem
to work for a lot of groups that ‘follows’ agile. Learning that to me, teamwork
following agile principle is hard from top-down management as they try to
follow rules made by the organization to follow the given framework, that is
why agile is not working for many in my opinion.

This got me to
reflect that to practice agile in the future, that I need to try to make sure
that if the company says they do ‘agile’ format for development, I need to check
with others so that if they want ‘agile’ following company standard or the real
agile that I learned in class. I feel like this way even more because when I work
at a part time job, company wanted to follow xyz because and it was annoying
and required lot of process which contradicted for the speed of work they
wanted us to work on. Therefore, no one really followed by the book or the procedures
were implemented shallow, so it was not effective at all, I think this was the same
case for agile in the long run. It feels like agile manifesto was built for
small teams or companies where they could discuss things multiple times in
small groups not to be used by large companies as it will be always shallow or
just another term to company’s rules to schedule how work is done. Therefore, I
feel like widespread use of agile is dying down unlike what the author says
because no one tries to keep that rule in big companies. 

https://jeffgothelf.com/blog/is-agile-over/

From the blog Sung Jin's CS Devlopemnt Blog by Unknown and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This article by
Jeff Gothelf asks the question “Is Agile finally over?” after 20+ years of
implementation to tech field. He argues that even though Agile’s widespread
adaptation hasn’t got the result that Agile was intended for. Many companies
claimed to be “Agile” as they copy each other, but the implementation of it was
shallow or almost non-existent to make changes according to it. Therefore, he
says that agile does not seems working as companies try to make employee follow
set of rules instead of working in following the basic principles of Agile. He
concluded that organizations need to focus on true organizational agility
rather than rigid framework adoption.

This article
caught my attention while searching through the internet as it criticizes Agile’s
current status in the business world as ideal of agile does not really fit in
reality in organization experience. The vague promises and core ideas are often
overlooked to the ‘wants’ of either customer or the organization. The output is
never about efficient program but a program that works made in short amount
time. In the end, it feels like the organization’s internal culture and goals
must align with the methods it adopts to fully be efficient which does not seem
to work for a lot of groups that ‘follows’ agile. Learning that to me, teamwork
following agile principle is hard from top-down management as they try to
follow rules made by the organization to follow the given framework, that is
why agile is not working for many in my opinion.

This got me to
reflect that to practice agile in the future, that I need to try to make sure
that if the company says they do ‘agile’ format for development, I need to check
with others so that if they want ‘agile’ following company standard or the real
agile that I learned in class. I feel like this way even more because when I work
at a part time job, company wanted to follow xyz because and it was annoying
and required lot of process which contradicted for the speed of work they
wanted us to work on. Therefore, no one really followed by the book or the procedures
were implemented shallow, so it was not effective at all, I think this was the same
case for agile in the long run. It feels like agile manifesto was built for
small teams or companies where they could discuss things multiple times in
small groups not to be used by large companies as it will be always shallow or
just another term to company’s rules to schedule how work is done. Therefore, I
feel like widespread use of agile is dying down unlike what the author says
because no one tries to keep that rule in big companies. 

https://jeffgothelf.com/blog/is-agile-over/

From the blog Sung Jin's CS Devlopemnt Blog by Unknown and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This article by
Jeff Gothelf asks the question “Is Agile finally over?” after 20+ years of
implementation to tech field. He argues that even though Agile’s widespread
adaptation hasn’t got the result that Agile was intended for. Many companies
claimed to be “Agile” as they copy each other, but the implementation of it was
shallow or almost non-existent to make changes according to it. Therefore, he
says that agile does not seems working as companies try to make employee follow
set of rules instead of working in following the basic principles of Agile. He
concluded that organizations need to focus on true organizational agility
rather than rigid framework adoption.

This article
caught my attention while searching through the internet as it criticizes Agile’s
current status in the business world as ideal of agile does not really fit in
reality in organization experience. The vague promises and core ideas are often
overlooked to the ‘wants’ of either customer or the organization. The output is
never about efficient program but a program that works made in short amount
time. In the end, it feels like the organization’s internal culture and goals
must align with the methods it adopts to fully be efficient which does not seem
to work for a lot of groups that ‘follows’ agile. Learning that to me, teamwork
following agile principle is hard from top-down management as they try to
follow rules made by the organization to follow the given framework, that is
why agile is not working for many in my opinion.

This got me to
reflect that to practice agile in the future, that I need to try to make sure
that if the company says they do ‘agile’ format for development, I need to check
with others so that if they want ‘agile’ following company standard or the real
agile that I learned in class. I feel like this way even more because when I work
at a part time job, company wanted to follow xyz because and it was annoying
and required lot of process which contradicted for the speed of work they
wanted us to work on. Therefore, no one really followed by the book or the procedures
were implemented shallow, so it was not effective at all, I think this was the same
case for agile in the long run. It feels like agile manifesto was built for
small teams or companies where they could discuss things multiple times in
small groups not to be used by large companies as it will be always shallow or
just another term to company’s rules to schedule how work is done. Therefore, I
feel like widespread use of agile is dying down unlike what the author says
because no one tries to keep that rule in big companies. 

https://jeffgothelf.com/blog/is-agile-over/

From the blog Sung Jin's CS Devlopemnt Blog by Unknown and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This article by
Jeff Gothelf asks the question “Is Agile finally over?” after 20+ years of
implementation to tech field. He argues that even though Agile’s widespread
adaptation hasn’t got the result that Agile was intended for. Many companies
claimed to be “Agile” as they copy each other, but the implementation of it was
shallow or almost non-existent to make changes according to it. Therefore, he
says that agile does not seems working as companies try to make employee follow
set of rules instead of working in following the basic principles of Agile. He
concluded that organizations need to focus on true organizational agility
rather than rigid framework adoption.

This article
caught my attention while searching through the internet as it criticizes Agile’s
current status in the business world as ideal of agile does not really fit in
reality in organization experience. The vague promises and core ideas are often
overlooked to the ‘wants’ of either customer or the organization. The output is
never about efficient program but a program that works made in short amount
time. In the end, it feels like the organization’s internal culture and goals
must align with the methods it adopts to fully be efficient which does not seem
to work for a lot of groups that ‘follows’ agile. Learning that to me, teamwork
following agile principle is hard from top-down management as they try to
follow rules made by the organization to follow the given framework, that is
why agile is not working for many in my opinion.

This got me to
reflect that to practice agile in the future, that I need to try to make sure
that if the company says they do ‘agile’ format for development, I need to check
with others so that if they want ‘agile’ following company standard or the real
agile that I learned in class. I feel like this way even more because when I work
at a part time job, company wanted to follow xyz because and it was annoying
and required lot of process which contradicted for the speed of work they
wanted us to work on. Therefore, no one really followed by the book or the procedures
were implemented shallow, so it was not effective at all, I think this was the same
case for agile in the long run. It feels like agile manifesto was built for
small teams or companies where they could discuss things multiple times in
small groups not to be used by large companies as it will be always shallow or
just another term to company’s rules to schedule how work is done. Therefore, I
feel like widespread use of agile is dying down unlike what the author says
because no one tries to keep that rule in big companies. 

https://jeffgothelf.com/blog/is-agile-over/

From the blog Sung Jin's CS Devlopemnt Blog by Unknown and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This article by
Jeff Gothelf asks the question “Is Agile finally over?” after 20+ years of
implementation to tech field. He argues that even though Agile’s widespread
adaptation hasn’t got the result that Agile was intended for. Many companies
claimed to be “Agile” as they copy each other, but the implementation of it was
shallow or almost non-existent to make changes according to it. Therefore, he
says that agile does not seems working as companies try to make employee follow
set of rules instead of working in following the basic principles of Agile. He
concluded that organizations need to focus on true organizational agility
rather than rigid framework adoption.

This article
caught my attention while searching through the internet as it criticizes Agile’s
current status in the business world as ideal of agile does not really fit in
reality in organization experience. The vague promises and core ideas are often
overlooked to the ‘wants’ of either customer or the organization. The output is
never about efficient program but a program that works made in short amount
time. In the end, it feels like the organization’s internal culture and goals
must align with the methods it adopts to fully be efficient which does not seem
to work for a lot of groups that ‘follows’ agile. Learning that to me, teamwork
following agile principle is hard from top-down management as they try to
follow rules made by the organization to follow the given framework, that is
why agile is not working for many in my opinion.

This got me to
reflect that to practice agile in the future, that I need to try to make sure
that if the company says they do ‘agile’ format for development, I need to check
with others so that if they want ‘agile’ following company standard or the real
agile that I learned in class. I feel like this way even more because when I work
at a part time job, company wanted to follow xyz because and it was annoying
and required lot of process which contradicted for the speed of work they
wanted us to work on. Therefore, no one really followed by the book or the procedures
were implemented shallow, so it was not effective at all, I think this was the same
case for agile in the long run. It feels like agile manifesto was built for
small teams or companies where they could discuss things multiple times in
small groups not to be used by large companies as it will be always shallow or
just another term to company’s rules to schedule how work is done. Therefore, I
feel like widespread use of agile is dying down unlike what the author says
because no one tries to keep that rule in big companies. 

https://jeffgothelf.com/blog/is-agile-over/

From the blog Sung Jin's CS Devlopemnt Blog by Unknown and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.