What Have You Learned?

You’ve made it! This is the end of this book. We’re happy that you’ve taken this journey with us, and we hope you’ll remember: the journey’s the reward. You’ve learned so much along the way.

We covered 70 examples, including code style, comments, naming, exceptions, testing, object-oriented design, and functional programming to sharpen your understanding of high-quality code.

Now, you’re able to

• Spot problematic Java code quickly and know how to improve it.
• Recognize common types of bugs and know how to avoid them.
• Explain why one code is clean and another isn’t.

And not just that… In this last chapter, you learned the basic idea for a lot of best practices in real software development. It’s about going all the way to production from static code analysis, an agreed upon code format, an automated build, and integration to the final delivery. You’re aware of concurrency as the tool that will make your program perform in the real world, but also that you have to be careful when applying it. After all, great power comes with great risks and, in this case, new types of bugs. And last, you learned that you always have to challenge your assumptions about the world when you program.

We’ve referenced many good books throughout the comparisons, so if you’re hungry for more, you know where to continue. If you haven’t read them yet, there are two classics we want to recommend over and over again:

• Effective Java [Blo18]
• Clean Code [Mar08]

Our book’s subtitle promised to help you “Become a Java Craftsman in 70 Examples.” Obviously, it’s not just about reading the book, but about applying the principles in practice. So be sure to practice. And when you do, use the comparisons in this book to help you to produce better code. Watch out for problems, and apply solutions in the code you write and in the code you review, because becoming a Java Craftsman is also (read: all) about experience!