End-to-end testing Java web applications with an embedded Tomcat

In this instalment on assembly testing [1] I'll talk about how automated system tests run over my Java web applications. The set-up is rather cheap, not very labour-intensive and can incrementally evolve from a simple assembly test (aka smoke test) to a full-fledged system test. Since this post is rather concrete naming tools and frameworks, … Continue reading End-to-end testing Java web applications with an embedded Tomcat →

SSLHandshakeException: unsupported certificate

When: loading client certificates from a custom keystore Reason: multiple certificates for the same domain but different purposes, e.g. one certificate handles email authentication, the other authenticates the user against a web server Solution: either fix the buggy code that selects the wrong certificate from the keystore or make sure only one certificate per domain … Continue reading SSLHandshakeException: unsupported certificate →

Spring MVC REST controller says 406 when emails are part URL path

You've got this Spring @RestController and mapped a URL that contains an email as part of the URL path. You cunningly worked around the dot truncation issue [1] and you are ready to roll. And suddenly, on some URLs, Spring will return a 406 [2] which says that the browser requested a certain content type … Continue reading Spring MVC REST controller says 406 when emails are part URL path →

Tomcat starts slowly in docker container

Just a little reminder to self: when running Tomcat with Java 8 in an Ubuntu Docker container, Tomcat will take a very long time (minutes!) to start with even the simplest web application. The issue is actually documented (not entirely Docker-related). The solution is to modify JAVA_OPTS to use a different random device: JAVA_OPTS=-Djava.security.egd=file:/dev/urandom

Heisenbugs with angular.js and Internet Explorer 9 or: missing console.log

I'm developing a proof of concept web application based on angular.js for corporate users, which - as so often in my career - means that they are using Internet Explorer. Several users complained about sporadic failures which were really hard to pin down, but during debugging sessions boiled down to a simple observation: the errors … Continue reading Heisenbugs with angular.js and Internet Explorer 9 or: missing console.log →