Lombok makes Java cool again
bytes.grubhub.com
Lombok makes Java cool again
1–10 of 239 posts
Re: Lombok makes Java cool again
#2I think java made some wrong decision, with bigggest one being very pragmatics generics-addition, resulting in trouble down the road like List not being possible. But I don't think checked exceptions are one of them ;)
I don't like too much flexibility in a language that has strong types. If you undermine the type-system, why not code in python?
But some additions of Lombok seem worthwile.
Re: Lombok makes Java cool again
#3Lombok is a useful crutch if you're writing lots of Java code on a day to day basis. However, given how easy it is to use Kotlin alongside Java I would question whether Lombok is the right solution to the problem.
Kotlin has data classes which auto generate sensible 'toString' and 'hashCode' methods which is a massive time saver.
Really, if you are considering introducing Kotlin to a Java project I'd recommend you just take the plunge. It's pretty much just a minor change to your pom file (if you're using Maven). Kotlin has Java interop as a primary feature and is flawless from my experience.
Re: Lombok makes Java cool again
#4I think java made some wrong decision, with bigggest one being very pragmatics generics-addition, resulting in trouble down the road like List not being possible. But I don't think checked exceptions are one of them ;) I don't like too much flexibility in a language that has strong types. If you undermine the type-system, why not code in python? But some additions of Lombok seem worthwile.
Checked exceptions have often been presented as a mistake on the basis of the ergonomics and workflow problems they cause, not because they are unhelpful when implemented. The problem is that people don't want to break their flow to deal with them, so they don't deal with them by catching/throwing exceptions improperly.
EDIT: There's also the fact that Java includes unchecked exceptions, so you can already subvert that part of the type system.
I don't really write much Java these days, but I've use at least a few libraries which use checked exceptions in a way that really sapped the fun out of the experience. (And personally I feel it is important for writing code to be fun, because little else of working with computers is.)
Re: Lombok makes Java cool again
#5I think java made some wrong decision, with bigggest one being very pragmatics generics-addition, resulting in trouble down the road like List not being possible. But I don't think checked exceptions are one of them ;) I don't like too much flexibility in a language that has strong types. If you undermine the type-system, why not code in python? But some additions of Lombok seem worthwile.
I've had both good and bad experiences with checked exceptions - it can really depend on the team!
One of the parts of Lombok that really works well for me is that its notations are completely optional and fit many different levels of granularity as you see fit. Don't want sneaky exceptions? Don't use them!
I mostly end up using it to make my Java code feel like C# though...
Re: Lombok makes Java cool again
#6I'm interested in the downsides of using Lombok, since the article seems to only focus on its positives and makes it seem like I should download it and start using it right now.
Is there anyone here with Lombok experience that wants to share any issues they've run into while using it? All I can think of right now is the fact that the source code isn't compatible with Java.
Re: Lombok makes Java cool again
#7Lombok is a useful crutch if you're writing lots of Java code on a day to day basis. However, given how easy it is to use Kotlin alongside Java I would question whether Lombok is the right solution to the problem. Kotlin has data classes which auto generate sensible 'toString' and 'hashCode' methods which is a massive time saver. Really, if you are considering introducing Kotlin to a Java project I'd recommend you ju…
> auto generate sensible [...] 'hashCode' methods
Unless you're using arrays. They went with "predictable" over "sensible" here.
> is flawless from my experience
As a heavy Kotlin user, I'd say it's far from flawless (not sure if you mean interop or the entirety of the language, but applies to both). I'm often creating and starring YouTrack issues. But yes, it's still a highly recommended alternative to Java.
Re: Lombok makes Java cool again
#8One of the major features of a language is its syntax-- and here, it seems as if the author, instead of simply using another language, is "fixing" Java's verbosity by installing a compiler pass that converts "shorthand" Java into valid Java code. Why wouldn't the author just use another language?
Re: Lombok makes Java cool again
#9I think java made some wrong decision, with bigggest one being very pragmatics generics-addition, resulting in trouble down the road like List not being possible. But I don't think checked exceptions are one of them ;) I don't like too much flexibility in a language that has strong types. If you undermine the type-system, why not code in python? But some additions of Lombok seem worthwile.
The problem with checked exceptions is that they constrain implementations by what possible failure states they could have. I.E. the implementations of an interface with a method in it that declares no exceptions will either never call anything that could throw a checked exception, it will internally handle its checked exceptions, or it will wrap them in an unchecked exception. In practice, the first is a straitjacket, the second leads to ignoring errors you can't propagate, and the third is boilerplate that makes it harder to actually catch the exceptions when you need them.
What would've made them good would be a static analysis of some sort that could divine all possible exceptions thrown by a method call and its dependents based on its code, but in Java a class can always override another class and do something entirely different so that's not possible.
Re: Lombok makes Java cool again
#10I think java made some wrong decision, with bigggest one being very pragmatics generics-addition, resulting in trouble down the road like List not being possible. But I don't think checked exceptions are one of them ;) I don't like too much flexibility in a language that has strong types. If you undermine the type-system, why not code in python? But some additions of Lombok seem worthwile.
> I don't think checked exceptions are one of them
While they may not have been the wrong decision, empirical evidence continually shows they add a syntactical burden many devs just work around (e.g. just wrap in a RuntimeException anyways). It's understandable why most modern languages don't consider predictable exceptions as part of the function signatures (though many discourage exceptions altogether in all but the most extreme cases).