The first week of October, the 20th edition of Devoxx took place in Antwerp, Belgium. Over 3000 Java developers, speakers, and enthusiasts gathered to share their knowledge and learn from each other. I got the opportunity to walk around with a microphone and talk to visitors and speakers. Not all of them, as there were just too many people and too many exciting sessions happening simultaneously.

Also available with video on youtube.com/watch?v=VJJmoiP7e-I

Podcast

Host: Frank Delporte

• https://foojay.social/@frankdelporte
• https://twitter.com/FrankDelporte
  

Content

00:00 Introduction with the Father of Java
01:20 Stephan Janssen, founder of Devoxx
05:39 Celestino Bellone and Mike Seghers, members of the organization
06:12 What visitors want to learn and see
10:12 Why attending Devoxx
11:32 How is Java being used by the attendees
12:17 Anton Arhipov
13:19 Bruno Borges and Sean Phillips
18:10 Ivar Gramstad
20:51 Paul and Gail Anderson
23:16 Mario Fusco
24:39 Roni Dover
25:28 Nicolai Parlog
27:58 Renato Cavalcanti
29:17 Sami Ekblad
30:20 Mariama Diaby
30:58 AV room with Bart Vervaet  
32:20 James Gosling
36:14 Outro

Music

• Barbershop John
• Hermine Deurloo
  
• Synapse by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
  

On September 12th, I was invited to speak at the Utrecht JUG together with Hanno Embrechts. That was an ideal moment to grab my camera and microphones to interview the organisers and some of the guests. So this is a bit a special edition of the Foojay Podcast as it’s also available with video! An experiment that brought me great pleasure. I hope you like it too! So … let’s time travel and get back to Utrecht when I got the organizers before the camera just minutes before the first guests arrived…

Video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzhDmWZilI4

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelvandongen/
• https://twitter.com/VanDongenM

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/willemvandegriendt/
• https://twitter.com/Willemvdg
  

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliasnogueira/
• https://twitter.com/eliasnogueira

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerard-meijwaard-83a5827/
• https://twitter.com/GerardMei

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannoembregts/
• https://twitter.com/hannotify
• https://foojay.social/@hannotify

• https://foojay.social/@frankdelporte
• https://twitter.com/FrankDelporte
  
  

• https://www.meetup.com/Utrecht-Java-User-Group/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/javautrecht/
• https://twitter.com/utrechtjug
  
  

00:00 Intro
00:45 Michel van Dongen about the history and organisation of UtrechtJUG
03:10 Impact of Covid and meeting in person
04:24 Motivation to organise a JUG
05:57 Relationship with NLJUG and other Dutch JUGs
07:18 Willem van de Griendt about his role in UtrechtJUG
08:23 Why Willem loves the Java community
09:40 What to learn from JUG events
10:56 Future plans for UtrechtJUG
12:05 Guests are arriving
12:18 Interview with guest, Elias Nogueira
13:27 Interview with guest, Gerard Meijwaard
14:40 Introduction of Hanno Embregts
16:01 About speaking at JUGs and conferences
16:47 Being editor of the NLJUG Java Magazine
18:11 Hanno on stage
18:30 Outro

Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT are the talk of the town. Every conference has several talks about these technologies, and on Foojay, you can find multiple posts about it. In this podcast, we want to take a look at it from the Java point of view. How can we use AI in Java programs or our job as a developer?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankdgreco/
https://twitter.com/frankgreco
https://www.javasig.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronidover/
https://twitter.com/doppleware

https://foojay.social/@frankdelporte
https://twitter.com/FrankDelporte

00:00 Intro and introduction of the guests
02:31 Difference between AI, ML, DL, CV,…
06:30 How ChatGPT and LLMs works
07:50 AI with Java and DeepNetts
https://www.deepnetts.com/  
10:42  NYJavaSIG and how AI and ML are influencing the content
13:06 LLM is pattern matching, not a search tool
13:41 Java developers want to develop this with Java
15:03 Foojay articles about Java, AI, and DeepNetts
https://foojay.io/today/getting-started-with-deep-learning-in-java-using-deep-netts/
https://foojay.io/today/visual-recognition-for-chess-with-deep-learning-in-java-on-android/
https://foojay.io/today/deep-learning-in-java-for-drug-discovery/
https://foojay.io/today/quick-start-with-machine-learning-in-java/
17:40 Java Specification Request 381: Visual Recognition Specification
https://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=381
https://github.com/JavaVisRec/visrec-api/wiki/Getting-Started-Guide  
21:51 How Digma is using is AI
https://digma.ai/
https://foojay.io/today/not-your-grandfathers-logs-a-java-librarys-new-approach-to-observability/
https://foojay.io/today/java-developer-vs-chatgpt-part-i-writing-a-spring-boot-microservice/
https://foojay.io/today/announcing-the-digma-beta-first-runtime-linter-for-java-code/
https://foojay.io/today/effective-coding-with-java-observability/
https://foojay.io/today/observing-java-applications-running-via-docker-compose-using-opentelemetry/
28:07 Will generated code be harder to debug?
https://foojay.io/today/java-developer-vs-chatgpt-part-i-writing-a-spring-boot-microservice/
32:29 Why companies don’t allow ChatGPT
34:53 Using these tools correctly (and locally?)
44:07 This is just the start of the evolution
48:05 What will AI bring to Java developers?
https://www.baeldung.com/java-project-panama
50:59 Involve other industries in the AI revolution
54:44 Machines don’t have emotions…
55:29 Conclusion

Since 2018, we get a new version of Java every 6 months. And version 21, released this month, will be a long-term support version that can be used for many years. It also brings a lot of new features and improvements in both the language and the runtime. Actually, there are so many that we’ll probably not get all of them discussed in this podcast! Let’s see what our experts find the most important facts we need to know about Java 21.

00:00 Intro and introduction of the guests
01:51 Excitement about the OpenJDK 21 release
04:18 What is Long Term Support?
https://twitter.com/nipafx/status/1676908785313492992
06:07 Every OpenJDK release is stable and production-ready
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mohamedtaman_aws-activity-7101961717521264640-F8jh
11:44 Next LTS in two years
12:06 Should you wait a bit before using 21?
13:07 About JEPs, new versus incubator and preview
https://openjdk.org/projects/jdk/21/
17:13 JEP 444: Virtual Threads
https://softwaregarden.dev/en/posts/new-java/loom/dont-look-at-virtual-threads/
22:30 JEP 430: String Templates
https://blogs.oracle.com/javamagazine/post/java-21-sneak-peek
26:05 JEP 440: Record Patterns + JEP 441 Pattern Matching for switch
27:11 JEP 442: Foreign Function & Memory API (Third Preview)
29:05 Energy efficiency of Java
https://thenewstack.io/which-programming-languages-use-the-least-electricity/
30:55 How Java evolves by inspiration of other languages
33:56 Difference between OpenJDK projects and JEPs
35:06 JEP 445: Unnamed Classes and Instance Main Methods (Preview)
40:55 Dummies book “OpenJDK Migration”
https://foojay.io/today/book-announcement-openjdk-migration-guide-for-dummies/
42:28 What will Java 22 bring?
43:27 JEP 443: Unnamed Patterns and Variables (Preview)
45:18 JEP 439: Generational ZGC
https://foojay.io/today/what-should-i-know-about-garbage-collection-as-a-java-developer/
49:33 Performance improvements by using newer runtimes
51:23 JEP 451: Prepare to Disallow the Dynamic Loading of Agents
52:37 Looking back at the 6-month release cycle introduction
55:00 Outro

Since December last year, the Foojay podcast virtually visited a Java User Group monthly. This journey has already brought us to many places around the world. And this time, we are in Chicago to learn from the Java and Kotlin user groups.

• https://twitter.com/CJUG
• https://foojay.social/@ChicagoJUG
• https://www.youtube.com/@ChicagoJavaUsersGroup
• https://www.meetup.com/chicagojug
• https://discord.gg/U25g437

• https://twitter.com/ChicagoKotlin
• https://foojay.social/@ChicagoKUG
• https://www.meetup.com/chicago-kotlin/

DataStax Vector DB and Search (no credit card and $25 monthly complimentary usage for up to a year):  https://bit.ly/3L1Dkgi

00:00 Intro and introduction of the guests
02:08 How Mary and John got into Java, Kotlin and user groups
06:55 History of the Chicago JUG
08:43 How Chicago switched from dotnet to Java in 2010’s
09:09 How Chicago JUG and KUG cooperate
13:04 Size of the communities
13:55 Impact of Covid and working-from-home
18:20 About streaming the event versus in-person
19:47 How to attract new visitors
23:00 Personal benefit of being part of a community
27:39 Speaking at conferences around the world
31:41 Most remarkable sessions
38:25 Outro

As developers, we like to automate the boring parts of our job. This automation includes the source control system, build pipelines, and code analysis tools. In recent decades, we have seen evolutions from CVS to Subversion to Git. Is this the endpoint? Did we find the holy grail in version control? Or what evolutions are waiting for us? Let’s find out together with these fantastic guests…

Guests

Trisha Gee (Gradle)

• @trisha_gee
• jvm.social/@trisha_gee 
• linkedin.com/in/trishagee/ 

Ixchel Ruiz (JFrog)

• @ixchelruiz
• mastodon.social/@ixchelruiz
• linkedin.com/in/ixchelruiz/

Pierre-Étienne Meunier (Pijul)

• fosstodon.org/@nuempe 
• linkedin.com/in/pierre-%C3%A9tienne-meunier-1b93b619b/

Podcast

Host: Hanno Embregts

• @hannotify
• foojay.social/@hannotify
• linkedin.com/in/hannoembregts/ 

Production: Frank Delporte

• @FrankDelporte
• foojay.social/@frankdelporte 

Content

00:00 Intro and introduction of the guests and host

04:15 Should we automate as much as possible to be able to focus on developing

06:33 The human factor of developer productivity engineering (DPE)

• Free book: gradle.com/developer-productivity-engineering/handbook/ 

10:23 PEs view on automation and how changes in law books follow the same approach as “code diffs”

17:02 How you can struggle with your version control system

• w3docs.com/learn-git/git-reflog.html
• dangitgit.com/
• leanpub.com/gettingtoknowIntelliJIDEA
• oreilly.com/library/view/learning-git/9781098133900/
• oreilly.com/library/view/head-first-git/9781492092506/ 

26:33 How Pijul tries to solve these challenges

• git-man-page-generator.lokaltog.net
• pijul.org
  

33:24 Patches versus branches versus trunk-based development and how to switch from branch-approach

• foojay.io/today/why-i-prefer-trunk-based-development

44:09 What could be improved to version control systems

• conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/ 

50:16 Why are still so many people using Git

• reuters.com/article/us-france-ovh-fire-idUSKBN2B20NU

1:02:02 Looking 10 years into the future

1:13:30 Outro

Java and JavaFX are probably not the first options you consider if you want to create a game application. But the FXGL library allows you to do precisely that: create games that run on all platforms with the same codebase as we are used to with Java. And even without an extra library, the JavaFX Components and Canvas provide many animation and gaming possibilities. Let's learn from experts why Java should be on your game-development-language-list!

Guests

Chengen Zhao

• @WhiteWoodCity
• linkedin.com/in/chengenzhao/
• Steam game created with JavaFX: Xtrike

Almas Baim

• github.com/AlmasB
• @AlmasBaim
• youtube.com/almasb0/videos
• github.com/almasb/fxgl

Gerrit Grunwald

• @hansolo_
• mastodon.social/@hansolo_
• github.com/HanSolo/jarkanoid
• github.com/HanSolo/SpaceFX

Host

Frank Delporte

• linkedin.com/in/frankdelporte/
• foojay.social/@frankdelporte
• @FrankDelporte

Content

00:00 Intro and introduction of the guests

04:00 About FXGL

• Book review: "Learn JavaFX Game and App Development with FXGL 17 

08:48 How Chengen used FXGL to improve his Xtrike game

10:15 Combining 2D and 3D

11:20 The fascination of Gerrit for retro games

13:36 JavaFX components versus Canvas

19:09 Creating games while waiting in airports…

22:19 Convert to mobile and Steam apps

23:22 Question of Chengen if FXGL can extend view components 

24:58 How students are involved in the FXGL project

• Java in education

29:53 Why FXGL has a mix of Java and Kotlin

32:22 Building for mobile and the hassle with the app stores…

• Cross platform with Gluon and GraalVM
• Porting an app to iOS 
• Creating mobile apps with JavaFX 

38:58 3D in JavaFX

• Visualizing brain computer interface data
• JavaFX 3D history
• FXyz 

44:14 Status of Swing

47:13 About the Java community in China

49:23 Could a drag-and-drop animation tool be created for FXGL?

• EditorApp.java 

51:13 Use JavaFX FXML markup files? And can SceneBuilder provide a code-only approach?

55:34 Conclusion

The Foojay Java User Group World Tour has already brought us to a lot of different countries all over the world. But for this episode, the host decided to stay at home. The Belgium JUG (BeJUG) started in 1997 and was the birthplace of Devoxx, Devoxx4Kids, and VoxxedDays. And in our capital Brussels, we can join Brussels JUG (BruJUG), since 2010.

So there’s a lot we can talk about to learn more about communities and conferences!

Guests

Olivier Hubaut, BruJUG

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivierhubaut/ 
• https://mastodon.top/@ohubaut

Stephan Janssen, founder BeJUG, Devoxx, Devoxx4Kids, Voxxed

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanjanssen/
• https://twitter.com/Stephan007

Tom Cools, AntwerpJUG, BeJUG

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-cools-17547548/
• https://twitter.com/TCoolsIT
• https://mastodon.social/@TCoolsIT

Podcast host

Frank Delporte

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankdelporte/
• https://foojay.social/@frankdelporte
• https://twitter.com/FrankDelporte

Links

• https://www.meetup.com/belgian-java-user-group/
• https://www.meetup.com/BruJUG/
• https://devoxx.be/
• https://events.voxxeddays.com/

Content

00:00 Introduction of the topic and guests

02:19 History of BeJUG and the start of JavaPolis (Devoxx)

06:00 How BruJUG (Brussels) started and evolved

• https://www.hanselman.com/blog/dark-matter-developers-the-unseen-99

08:35 Tom as the winner of the bad timing award with AntwerpJUG

10:35 Impact of Covid on Devoxx and BruJUG

18:09 How BeJUG got restarted in 2022

• https://github.com/BeJUG/bejug.github.io 
• Video: "Transitioning into Tech: The Journey of a Senior Junior Developer by Ibrahim Dogrusoz"

27:05 How BruJUG attracted new speakers + tips for new speakers or new talks

31:32 How Devoxx4Kids grew to a worldwide event

36:03 The tools developed and used to manage Devoxx

41:13 About the name change from JavaPolis to Devoxx and the franchising

46:14 Future plans for Devoxx, BruJUG and BeJUG

51:14 CFP for Devoxx and how reviewers can find sessions for their JUG

54:16 Outro

How do you get the maximum performance out of your Java application? And how to use profiling to find the bottlenecks? Let's learn it in this podcast!

Java profiling is a crucial technique for measuring and improving the performance of applications. It helps identify bottlenecks, memory leaks, and other application performance issues. There are various challenges with using Java profiling, and the need for profiling depends on the complexity of the application and the performance requirements. Let us learn more about the challenges, different profiling approaches, and when to use Java profiling to reach the best performance with our Java code.

Guests

Chris Newland

• @chriswhocodes
• mastodon.social/@chriswhocodes
• chriswhocodes.com/

Marcus Hirt

• @hirt
• hirt.se/blog/ 

Heinz Kabutz

• @heinzkabutz
• linkedin.com/in/heinzkabutz
• www.javaspecialists.eu/ 

Podcast

Host: Marcus Lagergren

•  @lagergren

Production: Frank Delporte

•  @FrankDelporte
•  foojay.social/@frankdelporte 

Content

00:00 Introduction of the host and guests

• jitwatch 
• jacoline
• foojay.io/command-line-arguments 
• Book Optimizing Java
• JCrete

10:42 History of Java and how performance was a challenge in the beginning

14:21 What is profiling? What should be profiled? What is good profiling?

28:44 What you should learn about profiling and performance

31:43 Impact of the different garbage collectors on performance

32:59 Performance and profile should focus on the right requirement for your system

34:39 Ergonomics in the JVM and tunes itself for the system it is running on

• mail.openjdk.org/pipermail/hotspot-dev/2023-May/074325.html

39:49 What are current important evolutions and upcoming coming or required changes in profiling?

43:19 Break-throughs in Stop-The-World approaches

46:43 Minimize the number of JVM flags you use

• https://jacoline.dev/stats 

56:47 About Errors and Exceptions

58:30 The current runtimes and operating systems are very forgiving

• https://openjdk.org/jeps/312 (Thread-Local Handshakes)
• https://openjdk.org/jeps/444 (Virtual Threads)

1:04:26 Is profiling becoming less relevant?

• foojay.io/today/continuous-production-profiling-and-diagnostics

1:10:20 Conclusion

Grab your Lego and robots, and let's talk about STEM, STEAM, and programming for fun!

As a developer, we all get frustrated occasionally when a bug messes up our schedule, and we have to dive deep into the code to find a solution. But still, many of us keep coding in our free time as we love to do it and want to create amazing stuff. In this episode of the Foojay Podcast, we talk to volunteers from different organizations where coding is used to inspire children to become engineers or at least learn to make good use of computers and the tools around them.

Guests

• Jeanne Boyarsky
  • Twitter @jeanneboyarsky 
  • https://www.selikoff.net
  • Mastodon @jeanneboyarsky
• Monica Beckwith
  • Twitter @mon_beck
• Igor De Souza
  • Twitter @Igfasouza

Podcast host

• Frank Delporte 
  • Mastodon @frankdelporte
  • Twitter @FrankDelporte

Content

• 00’00 Intro
• 00’43 Introduction of the guests
• 03’00 What is First?
  • First Inspires
  • FRC Robot reveal
  • FLL Events
  • Televic Smarties at FLL
• 06’43 What is CoderDojo?
• 07’46 Impact on your career by volunteering
• 09’00 Impact of these organizations on STEM education
  • Scratch 
• 14’00 The rule of three
  • Code Chica
• 16’48 Girls-only events 
• 24’13 What we learn from volunteering for our job
  • Microbit
• 28’16 Technology that can inspire the most
  • Particle
  • Onshape
• 36’09 Participants becoming coach
• 37’58 Java on small platforms like Raspberry Pi 
  • LCD Display
  • Potentiometer
  • Micronaut
  • Quarkus
  • Book #JavaOnRaspberryPi
• 43'39 Java in education
• 47’15 STEM versus STEAM
  • Nervous Jessica
• 53’37 Other interesting STEAM topics
  • Coolest Projects
  • Formula Pi
  • Pi Wars
  • Astro Pi
  • First Inspires
  • CoderDojo
  • Code.org
  • Documentation drive of CoderDojo Belgium
  • Microsoft TEALS
• 59’45 Outro