Toptal Blog
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Write Tests That Matter: Tackle The Most Complex Code First
In today’s world, code is expected to change as quickly as requirements do, and tests play an important role in making that possible. Many modern projects boast great test coverage, making them more resilient to regression issues. However, that is not true for all projects - especially some legacy projects which have little in the way of testing.
In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Andrey Shalitkin discusses two metrics, coupling and cyclomatic complexity, that are important in identifying which portions of code to include in test coverage.
Andrey Shalitkin
A CS PhD with over a decade of Java experience, Andrey’s a skilled business architect who’s always looking to use his math/algorithm skills.
How to Build a Multitenant Application: A Hibernate Tutorial
In the realm of enterprise software, especially for software provided as a service, multitenancy ensures that data is truly isolated for each client within a shared instance of software. Among its numerous benefits, multitenancy can greatly simplify release management and cut down costs.
In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer André William Prade Hildinger shows us how Hibernate, a persistence framework for Java, makes implementing a multitenant Java EE application easier than it sounds.
Andre Hildinger
André is a versatile and talented developer with 10+ years of industry experience. He is skilled at Java, Java EE, JavaScript, and more.
A New Way of Using Email for Support Apps: An AWS Tutorial
Of all the modern ways people talk to each other, email seems to have stood the test of time and is arguably still one of the most effective and widely used means of communication. Thus, being able to programmatically send and receive emails can open new dimensions to a user’s experience of software that powers human communication.
In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Francis Altomare shows us how he leveraged various Amazon Web Services technologies to build a simple communication application in which email itself is an important interface.
Francis Altomare
Francis is a full-stack engineer with a focus on JVM languages and native mobile. As a startup veteran, he has experience growing ideas.
Boost Your Productivity With Clever Travel Hardware
You can buy capri pants, cheap flip-flops, and boonie hats anywhere on vacation, but beachside shops usually don’t carry quality hardware that can help you be more productive on the road or save you time and money for more enjoyable activities.
In this post, Toptal Technical Editor Nermin Hajdarbegovic takes a look at inexpensive and readily available travel hardware designed to boost your productivity on the road. You can put most of these gadgets on your summer shopping list without making a dent in your travel budget.
Nermin Hajdarbegovic
As a veteran tech writer, Nermin helped create online publications covering everything from the semiconductor industry to cryptocurrency.
Hunting Down Memory Issues In Ruby: A Definitive Guide
Memory issues in programs can be quite frustrating whether you’re the user or the developer attempting to solve the problem. In Ruby, the garbage collector plays a vital role in managing your program’s memory so that you can focus on other important things. However, it is often possible to overwhelm the garbage collector or end up with sneaky resources that cannot be freed, which can lead to all sorts of memory issues.
In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Bruz Marzolf explains why certain memory issues arise in Ruby applications and how to tackle them easily.
Bruz Marzolf
Bruz is a full-stack developer with 15 years of experience of back-end Ruby, databases, and infrastructure as well as front-end JavaScript.
Introduction to Kotlin: Android Programming for Humans
Java has been a dominant programming language for ages, but modern times call for modern languages. Meet Kotlin, a modern, clear, and expressive programming language powered by the same virtual machine technology that powers Java.
In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Tomasz Czura takes us for a spin through the world of Kotlin and shows us how it can be used to make an Android application with an elegant architecture without compromising the very qualities of the code that Kotlin aims to provide.
Tomasz Czura
Tomasz (MCS) is an Android wizard and team lead. His favorite project has been doing the app and back-end of a hotel entertainment system.
Tips and Tools for Optimizing Android Apps
The plethora of tutorials on building Android apps may have you thinking that making a mobile app is simple. In reality, however, performance issues can be very complicated, and because performance plays a key role in making sure that your app stays on your users’ list of favorite apps for a long time, every little detail must be given full attention.
In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Tibor Kaputa shares some tips on how you can optimize some common performance issues and identify some of the bottlenecks in your Android app.
Tibor Kaputa
Tibor is a skilled developer with more than eight years of experience in Java, Kotlin, JavaScript, and C++. He’s also a veteran server administrator.
Testing Your Go App: Get Started The Right Way
When Golang first came out, there were next to no resources available about how to efficiently test your Go-written application. Even now, with plenty of guides and recommendations available, many bright-eyed developers still try to apply their Ruby or JavaScript mindset and use external frameworks to test apps written in Go.
In this article, Toptal Freelance Developer Gabriel Aszalos first explains Golang philosophy and then covers the basics of testing in Go, from table testing to JSON response assertion.
Gabriel Aszalos
Gabriel is a senior developer & Go enthusiast with experience working in diverse environments and multicultural teams around the globe.
Scaling Scala: How to Dockerize Using Kubernetes
Are you a Scala developer hoping to scale your application in the cloud? If so, meet Kubernetes, a cluster manager for Docker applications. Developed by Google, it’s the latest in new open source tools making major waves.
In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Michele Sciabarra guides us through a step-by-step tutorial on how to take a generic Scala application and implement Kubernetes and Docker to launch multiple instances of the application.
Michele Sciabarra
Michele is a system architect with over 20 years of experience. He is a polyglote developer but his specialty is Scala and DevOps.
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