The year is about to end. As an editorial team, we take this as an opportunity to summarize the most frequently read articles of the year on Heize Developer in one article. This year’s top 10 includes a colorful mix of programming languages like TypeScript, Rust and Java, tools, artificial intelligence, and platform engineering.
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News items are intentionally not included in the list. The top topics of the year in the report on Heise Developer can be found in a separate article.
We also haven’t included regular blog posts in the list. When it came to blogs, topics related to working methods and conditions generated the most interest, especially Scrum, XP & Co. – Why no one wants to work agile anymore, The Daily unfortunately found today. Had to cancel and met the culture: “I’ll take it with me” should not become the rule.
10th place: Practical use of artificial intelligence in software architecture
(Image: created by iX with MidJourney)
In his article, Ralph D. Muller describes how artificial intelligence (AI), especially large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, can help software architects in design, testing, and diagram creation without moving internal data to the cloud. stands by. LLMs help efficiently use dialogue contexts to improve the quality of answers and can independently validate code, which is useful in proof of concepts. Although AI may provide outdated information and contain biases, it provides valuable support, but does not yet fully meet the specific needs of software architects.
9th place: From C to Rust with kernels – a project report on efficiency and security
(Image: Matt Antonino/Shutterstock.com)
How sensible and practical is it to switch from C programming language to Rust in a kernel project, mainly in terms of efficiency and security? Dr. Stephan Lankes examines this question and describes the advantages of Rust in his article, such as a secure storage model without garbage collection that avoids security holes, as well as ease of development through the crate system and cargo package manager. Ease. However, the change requires some adjustment, and despite the benefits, there are risks from unsafe code blocks. Rust is establishing itself as an attractive alternative to C, especially for security-critical applications.
Eighth place: Source Code Editor Z: A Year’s Experience with an Underdog
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In late January 2024, the development team behind the code editor Jade, also known for their work on the Atom editor, announced that Jade is now available as open source. We asked Stefan Baumgartner to report on his experiences with the source code editor. After a year of use, Stefan Baumgartner shows how Z, written in Rust, impresses with its fast user interface and minimal features. Although Z doesn’t yet offer an extensive plugin ecosystem, it supports major languages like JavaScript and Rust well. The code editor is free, but charges a fee for collaborative work.
Seventh place: Ed Burns: Java can outperform any other existing language
(Image: Avec Meg)
Number 7 on our most-read articles is not an article at all, but an interview with Ed Burns, Principal Architect of Java at Microsoft. We asked him how the Java programming language remains attractive to young developers compared to “cool” languages like Kotlin or Rust. In the interview, Ed Burns emphasized the powerful features of the language, such as virtual threads and pattern matching. The challenge for Java lies less in technical skills than in the narrative that attracts young developers. Burns points out that while the age of Java has resulted in a host of features that ensure backward compatibility, it also affects the image of the language.
6th place: According to XZ-backdoor: Open source software as a risk or a strategic advantage?
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At the end of March 2024, all alarm bells rang in the field of IT security: software developer Andres Freund discovered a backdoor in the “xz utils” project, known as “XZ Backdoor”. It quickly became clear that the backdoor had been planned for a long time and was already found in the first software repositories. A large portion of all Linux servers will almost certainly be open to attackers.
Florian V. Samson examines the risks and benefits of open source software (FLOSS) in the context of the “XZ backdoor”. This incident highlights both the sensitivity of FLOSS to manipulation and its inherent transparency advantages that enable rapid detection.
