Top 10: The ten most popular developer articles in 2024

Contents

The year is drawing to a close. As the editorial team, we are taking this as an opportunity to summarize the most frequently read articles of the year on heise developer in one article. This year's top 10 includes a colorful mix of programming languages such as TypeScript, Rust and Java, tools, artificial intelligence and platform engineering.

The list deliberately excludes the news. The top topics of the year in the news on heise Developer can be found in a separate article.

We have also not included the regular blog posts in the list. Among the blogs, the topics relating to working methods and conditions aroused the most interest, above all Scrum, XP & Co. - why nobody wants to work agile anymore, Das Daily unfortunately has to be canceled today and meeting culture: "I'll take this with me" must not become the rule.

10th place: Practical use of artificial intelligence in software architecture

In his article, Ralf D. Müller describes how artificial intelligence (AI), in particular large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, can support software architects in designing, testing and creating diagrams without having to transfer internal data to the cloud. LLMs help to use dialog contexts efficiently to improve the quality of responses and can validate code independently, which is useful for proof of concepts. Although AI can provide outdated information and contains biases, it offers valuable support that does not yet fully meet the specific requirements of software architects.

9th place: With the kernel from C to Rust – a project report on efficiency and security

How sensible and practicable is the switch from the C programming language to Rust in a kernel project, primarily in terms of efficiency and security? Dr. Stefan Lankes explores this question and describes Rust's advantages in his article, such as a secure memory model without garbage collection, which avoids security vulnerabilities. Also, the simplification of development through the crate system and the package manager Cargo. However, the switch requires some adjustments and, despite the advantages, there are risks due to insecure code blocks. Rust is establishing itself as an attractive alternative to C, especially for safety-critical applications.

8th place: Source code editor Zed: experiences from a year with an underdog

At the end of January 2024, the development team behind the code editor Zed, also known for its work on the Atom editor, announced that Zed 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 Zed, written in Rust, impresses with its fast user interface and minimalist features. Although Zed does not yet offer an extensive plug-in ecosystem, it supports important languages such as JavaScript and Rust well. The code editor is free, but charges for collaborative work.

7th place: Ed Burns: Java can put any other current language in the shade

7th place in our most-read articles is not an article, but an interview with Ed Burns, Principal Architect Java at Microsoft. We asked him how the Java programming language manages to remain attractive to young developers in comparison to "cool" languages such as Kotlin or Rust. In the interview, Ed Burns emphasizes the powerful features of the language, such as virtual threads and pattern matching. The challenge for Java lies less in its technical capabilities than in the narrative that should appeal to young developers. Burns emphasizes that while the age of Java has led to a wealth of features that ensure backward compatibility, it also affects the image of the language.

6th place: After the XZ backdoor: open source software as a risk or strategic advantage?

At the end of March 2024, alarm bells rang in the IT security sector: software developer Andres Freund discovered a backdoor in the "xz Utils" project, known as the "XZ backdoor". It quickly became clear that the backdoor had been planned for a very long time and had already been found in the first software repositories. A large proportion of all Linux servers were almost open to the attacker.

Florian v. Samson examines the risks and benefits of open source software (FLOSS) in the context of the "XZ backdoor". The incident illustrates both the vulnerability of FLOSS to manipulation and its inherent transparency advantages, which enable faster detection.