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Notes

2026
July
  • Use kebab-case in Spring Boot @Value placeholders to avoid configuration-name headaches later.

    For properties loaded from Config Server:

    • @Value("${demo.item-price}") matches both demo.item-price and demo.itemPrice.
    • @Value("${demo.itemPrice}") matches only demo.itemPrice.

    This means a camelCase placeholder is coupled to that exact property spelling. If the Config Server property is later standardized to kebab-case, the lookup breaks.

    A kebab-case placeholder supports both forms, making it the safer convention for existing configuration and future changes.

    Verified this behavior on Spring Boot 2.7, 3.2, 3.3, 3.5, and 4.0.

June
May
  • I always thought “a” vs. “an” was based on the written first letter: use “an” before words starting with vowels - a, e, i, o, u.

    But some words felt weird when I wrote them, and I never noticed which article I was using when speaking.

    Turns out the actual rule is based on pronunciation, not spelling:

    • “an hour” because hour sounds like “our”
    • “a university” because it starts with a “yoo” sound
    • “an MBA” because M is pronounced “em”
    • “a European” because it starts with a “yuh” sound
    • “an honest mistake” because the H is silent

    The more you know.