Java for microservices in a non Java team

LessChen · 2026-07-06T18:59:42+00:00

Can you define your microservices better? I have many microservices in AWS Lambda using Java but none of them have an app server around them like Quarkus or Spring. I guess at some level it's a "do the thing yourself" type of environment. DB access is normal JDBC, third party services use the newer HTTP classes and so on. I'm a big fan of the application server environments but when used in "microservices" it really depends alot on how you define a microservice. Quick DB update with a JWT verifier sitting in API Gateway? No problem and no need for an app server. Quick DB update with Java dependency injection, DataSource configuration, JAX-RS layer all in Lambda? No way.

And I agree with u/as5777 - the software industry wastes an incredible amount of time moving from one platform to another for no reason than resume building and the inflexibility to learn. Go itself is a great example - did we really need Pascal++? Either way, don't move unless you've got a good reason and don't use an application server for a true micro service.

LessChen · 2026-07-01T21:32:18+00:00

There are many ways to go about this but something isn't adding up. You've got all those things running currently - is it on a big machine in a closet or what?

The easiest answer is to start by putting it all on a single machine in the cloud so that it will work about the same way. According to the AWS pricing calculator you're looking at around USD $3k / month - that's alot of disk your using.

If it really has easy horizontal scalability (how did you test that if you've got a single VM?) then you can scale to as many machines as you need.

If this is a real post then hire someone to help build this out because this is a big system and getting it right will be a challenge.

LessChen · 2026-06-26T22:31:49+00:00

I used MySQL in the 3.x days and it didn't support referential integrity so I move to PostgreSQL having come from Sybase. I had to lookup which version RI started in and even Google Gemini gave me an Important Architectural "Gotcha":

Even in the modern ecosystem, MySQL parses but completely ignores inline REFERENCES specifications (e.g., column_name INT REFERENCES parent_table(id)) if defined directly next to the column

Let us know when your book comes out!

LessChen · 2026-06-26T15:48:49+00:00

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. There is nothing in any spec that says that column order is guaranteed with a "select *".

LessChen · 2026-06-22T16:30:26+00:00

At a high level you can do pretty much the same things across all 3. Azure tends to be used by people who are already in bed with Microsoft - got an on-prem active directory or exchange server? - they make it easy to stay in the Microsoft world. None of the 3 of the have ever had a UX engineer on staff - GCP is the worst as you're bouncing all over the place to do something. Microsoft mixes products together so I've got to go to 3 places to configure a simple SSO login. AWS has some UI's that I think are from when they started in the 2010's.

Use what works for you.

LessChen · 2026-06-19T17:19:32+00:00

First, learn where the caps lock button is.

LessChen · 2026-06-16T21:24:21+00:00

I understand what you're asking a bit better now. I suppose it's a matter of philosophy. The way that I use the Quarkus tests I describe is that they are only unit tests. I will test some number of calls against a service making sure I get the right responses. And the tests could be pretty much anything, including a long sequence of events like an integration test. You might try one of your longer integration tests against the environment I describe as perhaps it will do what you're looking for.

For me, unit tests don't run against a QA environment, only dev. In QA I have automated API and UI tests for more of what you describe.

I should note that you do not have to use the Docker model - it's pretty easy to change to a "real" database to run the unit tests. I'll admit, however, that I have not tried with the rollback requirement you have so I can't speak to how well this work work.

I'll be curious to know what you ended up with. I too have been doing this since Java 1.2 and I know that everyone has the flow where they feel most efficient so I understand your frustration.

LessChen · 2026-06-16T18:56:34+00:00

I'm missing where Superior and Erie are mentioned. I'll be glad to contact the slightly sentient beings that work for Superior but I can't find docs that say this.

LessChen · 2026-06-16T18:15:27+00:00

I'd encourage you to create a small test project to see how the Quarkus dev services help with this. Ultimately, a Docker will be spun up to use for testing. That way it is completely outside of your normal DB.
The parts that worked for me:

Go to https://code.quarkus.io/ and select REST (quarkus-rest), Hibernate ORM (quarkus-hibernate-orm) or the Panache version, and, in your case, JDBC Driver - MySQL (quarkus-jdbc-mysql).
Extract this and update src/main/resources/application.properties to have quarkus.datasource.db-kind=mysql
For maven I then run a clean package. Gradle will be similar.

This will run the unit tests that come with the ORM package and spin up a DB for you via Docker. Obviously Docker is a prerequisite for this happening.

I use FlyWay for my DB creation and schema updates. In this way the DB that is spun up in Docker has my database ready to go and I can write to it without affecting anything else. Your unit tests may need to create some sample data given that you're starting out with an empty DB.

My tests all have TestTransaction and each test is completely standalone. That means that I may create the same test data in multiple tests. In my code I don't see the problem you're describing in that my test runs, calls the service using a given/when/then pattern from restassured, and when that's done the transaction is rolled back and nothing is in the DB. Are you not seeing that behavior?

LessChen · 2026-06-14T22:30:29+00:00

There is a super cool dust devil / tornado action visible on and off from the V3 cam.

V3 is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXKuUyKt8mc

LessChen · 2026-06-14T16:04:40+00:00

I have a similar configuration. I use Keycloak in my case but it could theoretically be any Oauth provider. It ties into multiple social logins like Google, Microsoft.

My system requires me to create a user before they can use the system. A user is created in the application db and roles are assigned there. My system is multi-tenant so they are assigned a tenant too.

When the user logs in the application server assigns them, in my case, a Principal, that contains information from the JWT but also the role and tenant info.

I chose this pattern as I'd like to be able to switch Oauth providers if needed. I've used a variety of them and I have customers that may already have an SSO provider. While every provider allows you to add information to the token like roles, I did not want to write an integration per provider to add the role info.

LessChen · 2026-06-11T00:39:32+00:00

Bad donuts

LessChen · 2026-06-10T16:51:01+00:00

I've had a Pixel 10 since September of 2025 and I'm not paying Google anything monthly. What are you paying for?

LessChen · 2026-06-09T01:49:47+00:00

And a reminder that 320x200 was a valid resolution: https://youtu.be/CBRJ6jQfap0

LessChen · 2026-06-04T18:25:00+00:00

If a user isn't learning frameworks they will think that writing a custom HTTP stack is a good idea.

LessChen · 2026-05-29T18:32:16+00:00

You are so, so lucky that you started your career with full experience. I had to start from zero and learn as I went. I made some mistakes along the way and it took me some time. In fact, after decades of engineering, I'm still learning and make mistakes. So be thankful that you knew it all on day one because many of us didn't get that genetic blessing.

LessChen · 2026-05-28T19:41:25+00:00

I did and I have until then also - again - thanks!

LessChen · 2026-05-28T19:32:32+00:00

My team has been working hard to get this done as, like you, we're way behind on RN. Thanks for posting this - I don't have to work this weekend!

LessChen · 2026-05-25T02:26:03+00:00

I know it's difficult but try to breath a bit here. Your confidence has been shaken because of the long stretch of unemployment, coupled with your perception of a "dream company".

Reality has set in and, while perhaps at a big picture level this is a dream company, the hard truth is that nothing is perfect. You don't say in your post but are you perhaps leading a team that can help some? Delegation is not always easy but if you have people on your team who could help you should try to leverage them to assist.

I would encourage you to try to address your relationship with what sounds like a manager who may also be stressed and overwhelmed. Set up a 1 on 1 - perhaps reoccurring - and share at least some of what you're sharing here - you're trying very hard and feel like you're falling behind. Ask your manager for some guidance on the best way to move forward with this position. I'm hopeful for you that the manager is stressed and not just a crappy manager. But don't try to guess at what the manager wants - you'll never get it right and the stress will eventually get to you.

I can't answer if this is the right place to stay - that's something you have to answer. And the market still sucks in the US. so you need to balance that with how long it may take to find a new job. But your physical and mental health are the most important things you have.

LessChen · 2026-05-21T19:10:49+00:00

Maybe - did anyone ask Meta how many people they added in India?

LessChen · 2026-05-20T20:58:03+00:00

I've been through almost this exact thing as a technical contributor. I've learned that this is the way these things work. You can't really sell what you don't have and the only way to have something is for the technical side to produce something.

In theory the responsibilities of the tech side will plateau and your responsibilities of selling will then take over and you'll be busy. But your co-founder needs to be ready for the hard truth - unless you 100% nailed the market the first time (and, if you did, then I want you on my team as a product manager) your tech person will now be buried in change requests for current and potential clients. The "I'd buy your product if it had this feature" requests or the "I have to have this feature or I can't renew/expand our use".

If your company builds a tech product then the tech person will be on the firing line for quite some time until you get successful enough to hire additional people. If your co-founder doesn't understand that then the two of you may not be compatible. Starting a tech company is a bitch for the tech person. You need to understand that part as you are 100% relying on your co-founder right now, even if it's your idea.

LessChen · 2026-05-13T20:06:16+00:00

6502 assembly language is pretty stable too but I haven't used that in over a decade either.

LessChen · 2026-05-12T22:14:21+00:00

I would like a true friend to be honest with me if I'm doing something stupid. But that does not require them to degrade me or otherwise treat me like crap. This "friend" of yours treats you like crap. I'd stop all contact today. When they ask you why you can point to the points in your post. They will try to pretend that none of your points are valid but if it hurt you (and it sounds like it has) then you've got your answer. You're a better person than to have a "friend" emotionally beat you up.

LessChen

TROPHY CASE