Episodes

  • Paul Bakker: Go Build a Lot of Stuff!

    Paul Bakker: Go Build a Lot of Stuff!
    Feb 3 2026
    This is the third in a short series of speaker profiles for JavaOne 2026 in Redwood Shores, California, March 17-19. Get early bird pricing until February 9, and for a limited time, take advantage of a $100 discount by using this code at checkout: J12026IJN100. Register. Sessions. In this conversation, Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Paul Bakker, an engineer and Java architect in California. Paul is a staff software engineer in the Java Platform team at Netflix. He works on improving the Java stack and tooling used by all Netflix microservices and was one of the original authors of the DGS (GraphQL) Framework. He is also a Java Champion, he's published two books about Java modularity, and he's a speaker at conferences and Java User Groups. Java Is Everywhere at Netflix Paul will present "How Netflix Uses Java: 2026 Edition" at JavaOne in March. The session updates previous year's talk because Java keeps evolving at Netflix. "Netflix is really staying on the latest and greatest with a lot of things," Paul says. "We're trying new things. And that means there's always new stuff to learn every year." Java powers both Netflix streaming and enterprise applications used internally and supporting studio teams. "Java is everywhere at Netflix," Paul says. "All the backends, they are all Java powered." Why Java? It comes down to history and practicality. The original team members were Java experts, but more importantly, "Java is also just the best choice for us," he says. The language balances developer productivity and runtime performance. At Netflix's scale with thousands of AWS instances running production services, runtime performance is critical. Netflix engineers stay closely connected with development at OpenJDK. They test new features early and work with preview releases or builds before official releases. When virtual threads appeared, Netflix engineers tested immediately to measure performance gains. Paul says they give feedback on what works, what doesn't work, and what they would like to see different. This just demonstrates the value of being involved with OpenJDK, and Paul says they have a really nice back and forward with the Oracle engineering teams. The microservices architecture Netflix adopted years ago enabled the company to scale. This approach has become common now, but Netflix pioneered talking about it publicly. Breaking functionality into smaller pieces lets teams scale and develop services independently. Most workloads are stateless, which enables horizontal scaling. Production services for streaming often run several thousand AWS instances at a time. Early on with Java Applets Paul's coding journey started at 15 when he got his first computer and wanted to learn everything about it. Working at a computer shop repairing machines, the owner asked if he knew how to build websites. Paul said no but wanted to learn. He was curious about everything that involved computes. Java applets were hot back then. With nothing online available, he bought a book and started hacking away. "It was so much fun that I also decided right at that point basically like, oh, I'm going to be an engineer for the rest of my life," he says. That's clarity for a 15-year-old. And it's remarkable. But Paul says it felt natural. He just started doing it, had such a good time, and knew that was what he wanted to do. When he started university around 2000, right during the dot-com bubble and crash, professors warned students not to expect to make money in engineering because the bubble had burst. Paul still remembers how funny that seems now. You can never predict the future. Initially, he learned Java and PHP simultaneously. Java powered client-side applications through applets while PHP ran server-side code. The roles have completely reversed now. Engaging the Community Paul attended his first JavaOne in 2006. "Those were really good times," he says about the early conferences when everything felt big and JavaOne was the only place to learn about Java. Back then, around 20,000 people would travel to San Francisco every year. It was the one and only place to learn what was new in Java. All the major news would be released at JavaOne each year. The world has changed. Now information spreads instantly and continually online, but Paul misses something about those early days. The more recent JavaOne conferences offer something different but equally valuable. Paul points to last year's event in Redwood City as a great example. While the conference is still big, it's small enough that attendees can actually talk with the Oracle JDK engineers and have deeper conversations. The folks who work on the JDK and the Java language are all there giving presentations, but they're also totally accessible for hallway chats. "That makes it really interesting," Paul says. This direct access to the people building the platform distinguishes JavaOne from other conferences. Java User Groups also played an important role...
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    26 mins
  • Marit van Dijk and Anton Arhipov: 25 Years of IntelliJ IDEA

    Marit van Dijk and Anton Arhipov: 25 Years of IntelliJ IDEA
    Jan 29 2026
    This is the second in a short series of speaker profiles for JavaOne 2026 in Redwood Shores, California, March 17-19. Get early bird pricing until February 9, and for a limited time, take advantage of a $100 discount by using this code at checkout: J12026IJN100. JavaOne: Register. Sessions. In this conversation, Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with developer advocates Marit van Dijk and Anton Arhipov from JetBrains about the 25th anniversary of IntelliJ IDEA, the latest features of the IDE, Anton's upcoming session at JavaOne in March, and their perspectives on JavaOne as the premier conference for Java developers. 25 Years of IntelliJ IDEA Just as Java turned 30 this year, IntelliJ IDEA is now 25 years young! Not every technology survives that long, and even fewer thrive while doing it. But both Java and IntelliJ IDEA are doing just that. The secret to this longevity for IntelliJ IDEA, according to Marit van Dijk and Anton Arhipov, comes down to something simple but demanding — staying current with the Java ecosystem and engaging the massive Java development community around the world. The main reason for their success is the huge effort engineered into the platform to produce the technologies that developers need while at the same time staying with all the bleeding edge stuff happening inside the Java community. This commitment reaches beyond just supporting new Java versions. The IntelliJ IDEA team works on preview features even though specifications sometimes change during the preview process. When Oracle moved to a six-month release cycle for OpenJDK about eight years ago, IntelliJ adapted smoothly since their teams were already involved with the OpenJDK community. Marit says that new release cycle actually streamlined their work. They already knew about preview features and could start developing support upfront, not at the very last moment. This let them iterate alongside the community rather than chasing after it. The company also collaborates directly with other community members — such as framework developers, build tool teams at Maven and Gradle, and even Google — to implement best practices straight into the IDE. Maven 4 is not even released yet, but IntelliJ already has support ready with migration features to help developers make the transition. Anton says that this effort means that support is not only working with the new version of a technology but also being smart about how you use it. The IDE catches outdated patterns and deprecated APIs and also offers quick fixes to migrate code with a single keystroke. First and Lasting Impressions Both Marit and Anton started working at JetBrains years after they had already become devoted IntelliJ users. Their first impressions of the IDE moved them deeply and remain with them today. For Anton, his first reaction to using IntelliJ IDEA was immediate. "In one word, wow, this is smart. This is an IDE that understands code." That intelligence in the software became the foundation of his relationship with the technology. Marit had a similar experience when she switched to IntelliJ IDEA. She had used other IDEs before and they were perfectly fine, but IntelliJ seemed different. "I found that it was actively helpful with the code inspections and quick fixes and helping me when my code didn't compile or preventing me from making mistakes. And I was sad that I didn't switch earlier, like years earlier. And I've been raving about it ever since. And now they pay me to do that. So, you know, everybody wins." AI and the Future of Development As usual in these conversation, we turned to artificial intelligence and its growing role in software development. Anton will explore this topic in depth at his JavaOne session titled "Spec-Driven Development With AI Agents: From High-Level Requirements to Working Software." Everyone knows that the AI landscape is changing fast, but things are actually getting simpler, Anton says. Developers can now get better results with less effort and less complex workflows using AI agents. Models are improving at guessing developer intent and reducing the need for careful constraint-heavy prompting. But Anton sets realistic expectations about AI. When asked whether his session targets junior or senior developers, he says that "we are all juniors in this regard." The field is so new that nobody can claim years of expertise with AI development tools. Marit emphasizes another crucial principle about AI-generated code. "You are still responsible for the code," whether you write it or an agent writes it. It has your name on it. AI does not diminish developer accountability or the need for developers to remain highly skilled in their craft. Anton adds another dimension about integrating AI with development tools. "AI without the IDE is kind of unreliable, but the IDE without AI is unproductive." The key, he says, is to fuse these things together leveraging the benefits of both for better productivity. The ...
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    31 mins
  • Jeanne Boyarsky: Get Ready for Java 25 Certification

    Jeanne Boyarsky: Get Ready for Java 25 Certification
    Jan 21 2026
    This is the first in a short series of speaker profiles for JavaOne 2026 in Redwood Shores, California, March 17-19. Get early bird pricing until February 9, and for a limited time, take advantage of a $50 discount by using this code at checkout: J12026DCP. Register. Sessions. In this conversation, Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Jeanne Boyarsky, a Java developer, an author, and a Java Champion based in New York City. Jeanne previews her JavaOne session, which will be a Hands on Lab for Java 25 certification. Previously, Jeanne was a guest on Duke's Corner in January 2024: Jeanne Boyarsky on Java, Learning, and Contributing. Preparing for Java 25 Certification Jeanne will be running a hands-on lab about Java 25 and getting ready for the certification: Becoming One of the First Java 25 Certified Developers in the World (or Learning New Features). The session will cover features added to the language from Java 17 to Java 25. Although the certification has not been announced yet, Jeanne is already preparing for it. "You can be one of the first people in the world to be certified if you come to my talk and learn about it and are ready when the test comes out," she says. The lab will walk through tricky questions and edge cases featuring new functionality, with coding practice to explore the features directly. Even if you are not planning to take the certification test, the lab provides a good way to learn about the new features. The session is designed for beginners with one to three years of experience. Top Features in Java 25 Several features particularly excite Jeanne. She highlights scoped values, which she describes as "a good jump from thread local in order to be able to share code in a nice, safe, contained way." She also appreciates unnamed variables and unnamed patterns because developers no longer need to use annotations to suppress warnings for unused variables. "You can just use an underscore," she says. Jeanne is particularly interested in stream gatherers because streams are one of her favorite features in Java overall. She was excited when stream gatherers were in preview, and now that they are officially released, she can use them in her job. "Nice that the excitement hasn't worn off, right?" Among the new features, Jeanne is especially interested in the new main method, as described in JEP 495: Simple Source Files and Instance Main Methods. "I'm super, super, super excited about the new main methods where you don't need a class and you don't need the whole static void mess," she says. This change makes writing code more succinct. Making Java Accessible to Students This change in how Java handles the main method enables new developers to learn Java faster. Jeanne volunteers at a high school teaching kids how to code in Java. In the past, teachers had to tell students: "Alright, public class foo, public static void. Don't worry about what any of that means. We'll tell you later." But Jeanne says that curious kids would ask what it meant, and teachers could only say that comes later. Now, students start with void main, braces, and IO print line. "It's obvious what everything does," Jeanne says. Void means it does not return anything, which makes sense to students. They can even use the Java Playground and start with just IO print line. When they move to the command line or an IDE, they only need the void main part without discussing the word class until they are ready to learn about classes and objects. "It makes their first impression of the language so much better, and it makes it so much faster and easier for them to get started," Jeanne says. She particularly appreciates the Java Playground because students do not need anything installed on their computers to start. They can write print lines, loops, and control structures, and by the time teachers ask them to install something, they are already invested in programming. "It's fun." Jeanne calls the Java Playground "awesome" and says it's a "really nice utility" even for experienced developers. She uses it herself for quick tests when she does not want to open an IDE. JavaOne on Oracle's Campus When asked about JavaOne, Jeanne describes the conference as moving to California last year, just outside San Francisco on Oracle's campus. "The weather was great, which is awesome because I live in New York City. There's snow outside right now," she laughs. The venue particularly impressed her. "It was nice because it was on Oracle's campus. You got a feel for it. It was pretty. There was a lake. There was a lot of areas to connect with people inside and outside." The conference was held largely in one building, with lunch in another building nearby, which made it easy to engage people repeatedly. "Even if you don't know people, the fact that they're at JavaOne means they're interested in Java. So, you can go over to anyone and introduce yourself." One of Jeanne's favorite memories from a previous ...
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    16 mins
  • Chris Hermansen: Don't be Afraid to Create

    Chris Hermansen: Don't be Afraid to Create
    Dec 16 2025
    Chris Hermansen: Don't be Afraid to Create Summary Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Chris Hermansen, a Java developer, consultant, and data analyst from Canada. Chris discovered Java in the 1990s and was drawn to its free accessibility and object-oriented design. He particularly appreciated Java's straightforward single inheritance model over C++'s complexity. But Chris's path to technology came through mathematics rather than computer science. He identifies streams as Java's most transformative feature for data analysis work and praises how it improved code readability and maintainability. On consulting, Chris cautions against Silicon Valley mantras like "fail often" when applied outside prototyping contexts, and he observes cultural differences in how engineers approach problem-solving with some preferring abstract discussion while others focusing on concrete data. Chris emphasizes that technology work remains fundamentally human and stresses the importance of listening, maintaining humanity in professional life, and avoiding corporate stereotypes. For students, he notes the differences between learning with modern IDEs versus the command line tools of his era when he learned to code, so he advises that new learners to try multiple approaches to deepen their understanding. His core message, which became the episode's title, is simple: "Don't be afraid to create." Discovering Java in the 1990s Chris discovered Java in the mid-1990 when Java was announced while working as a data analyst. "Java came along and it was free to use. It wasn't open source at that point, but it was free to use," he says. "And it really intrigued me because of its object-oriented approach to things, which was something that didn't come with the platform we were working on." Unlike the purchased software products he was using at the time, Java offered a free and accessible alternative that promised serious long-term value. He also appreciated how Java's design avoided the complexities of C++, especially the problems with multiple inheritance. He and a colleague had been discussing moving from Pascal to either C or C++, but his colleague had concerns about C++'s complexity, particularly around multiple inheritance. "The first thing that really jumped out to me was the straightforward single inheritance pathway and the use of interfaces to define contractual relations between code," Chris says. Java's approach to inheritance immediately stood out as cleaner and more maintainable. Features like array bounds checking and interfaces for defining contractual relationships between code further convinced him he was learning something that would age well. "I felt that I was learning something that would wear well over time. I wouldn't turn around and look at what I'd done 10 or 15 or 20 years later and say, yuck, what was I thinking?" After committing to Java and sticking with it through the learning process, he found it repaid his effort many times over. "I liked it and I stuck with it, and I found it paid me back enormously for my investment in learning." Career Path Through Mathematics Chris's path to technology came through math rather than traditional computer science. He actually stumbled into science during the registration process at school in the 1970s and eventually pursued math after deciding against engineering. His career took him through various mathematical applications, including consulting and data analysis positions in forestry. Java's Evolution: Streams and Beyond Regarding Java's evolution, Chris identified streams as the biggest feature improvement for his work. When asked about new features that have been useful in his applications, he immediately identifies streams as transformative. "I mean, streams was the big one. Streams just made a whole difference to the way you would handle data," he says. He contrasts the old approach of writing hundreds of lines of nested for loops with the more elegant stream-based approach: "And so streams has just made that a whole lot easier. And the code is so much more readable and maintainable than the old 500 line do loops that we used to have in Fortran that turned into the 375 line for loops in Java. Anyway, so streams is a big one, a really big one for me. The biggest, I would say." He also valued the introduction of templates (generics) in Java 5 or 6, which represented a significant evolution in the language and allowed applying libraries to custom classes. He praised the Java community for keeping the platform and ecosystem viable, noting that the combination of an active developer community and a satisfied user base creates a virtuous cycle that keeps the platform evolving and improving: "There's enough Java programmers out there, enough people interested in the continuing viability of Java that they keep it going, that they modernize it, that they solve new problems with it, that they make it perform better than it ever has before." He added a "big ...
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    59 mins
  • Barry Burd: Teaching Java as an Art Form

    Barry Burd: Teaching Java as an Art Form
    Dec 2 2025
    Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Barry Burd, a computer science teacher, an author, and the co-leader for two Java User Groups (JUGs). Barry is based in New Jersey and he's taught at the undergraduate level for decades. His journey with Java began in 2004 when he attended small user group meetings of just five or six people. Those gatherings, once part of the Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey, have evolved into the Garden State Java User Group and the New York Java SIG, which now regularly feature Java Champions and prominent speakers from the Java development community. The transformation of the two JUGs on the East Coast of the U.S. reflects the broader growth of the entire Java ecosystem globally. Barry's teaching philosophy centers on passion, enthusiasm, and visualization. He works to help students see programming concepts as complete mental pictures rather than just syntax. His classroom approach emphasizes active interactions with as many questions as possible. He tries to create what he calls a party atmosphere rather than a boring traditional lecture setting. He believes strongly in meeting students where they are and encouraging those who love the material while supporting those whose passions may lie elsewhere. What distinguishes Barry's perspective is his view of computer science as an art form. He frequently compares elegant code to works of art. He asks students who question the practical value of certain technical concepts whether they would ask the same question in a course about the Mona Lisa. This artistic perspective extends to his appreciation of Java as well. He marvels at the language's thoughtful design, where features fit together as a unified whole rather than random pieces of technology thrown together haphazardly. Java's appeal for Barry grows from multiple sources. The language's backward compatibility has been crucial for his work as an author and a teacher. He says that only one program broke across multiple editions of his books over the years. He contrasts this long term stability with other platforms that change frequently and force him to spend time fixing previously working code. The elegance and careful thought behind Java's design resonates deeply with him. He appreciates the early decisions about inheritance and interfaces and the entire evolution of Java from the engineers under the stewardship of architects like Brian Goetz at Oracle. Barry says that the six-month release cycle introduced in recent years has injected new life into the Java ecosystem. He sees the platform as self-sustaining now with strong leadership that shows no signs of fading. Living near New York City, he says that financial institutions depend on Java's industrial strength reliability for obvious reasons. The technology serves two audiences well, he says, those who need rock-solid, enterprise-grade systems and those like himself who appreciate the beauty of well-crafted software. When asked why Java is so great, Barry says: "I guess the other reason is that it's good for industrial strength programming. People in the area of the world where I live in, close to New York City, in the financial district, rely on it. It's just not breakable the way other platforms are." If you ever have a chance to take a software development class from Barry Burd, take it. You'll love it. Barry Burd https://x.com/allmycode https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-burd/recent-activity/all/ Jim Grisanzio https://x.com/jimgris https://grisanzio.com Duke's Corner Java Podcast https://dukescorner.libsyn.com/site/ https://grisanzio.com/duke/
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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Mattias Karlsson: I think it's Brilliant

    Mattias Karlsson: I think it's Brilliant
    Sep 15 2025

    Jim Grisanzio from Oracle Java Developer Relations talks with Mattias Karlsson, Java Champion and prominent developer in the Java community who was also honored with the Java Community Lifetime Achievement recognition at Jfokus in February 2024.

    "I was shocked and honored — very humbled!" Mattias said about being recognized for his lifetime of achievements in the Java community by Sharat Chander of Oracle's Java Developer Relations Team.

    Mattias, a Stockholm-based engineer and long-time leader of the Stockholm Java User Group, shares his journey with Java, from its early days to its current role in modern tech ecosystems. He also talks about the evolution of Jfokus, a leading annual Java conference he organizes, which has grown from a small Java user group into a major gathering of over 2,000 developers from diverse backgrounds around the world.

    Mattias highlights Java's enduring appeal, driven by its robust JVM, backward compatibility, and vibrant community. He also reflects on the six-month release cycle, calling it "brilliant" for its balance of stability and innovation, and shares insights on mentoring young developers and using AI to stay updated.

    When talking about how students learning programming will inevitably encounter Java due to its widespread use in the industry, Mattias said, "Sooner or later they will end up with Java anyway."

    Finally, the episode underscores the unique culture of the Java community and Jfokus as a conference for its blending of culture, professionalism, and a welcoming atmosphere.

    Mattias Karlsson https://x.com/matkar

    Jim Grisanzio https://x.com/jimgris

    Duke's Corner https://dukescorner.libsyn.com/site

    Podcast Archives, Transcripts, Quotes https://jimgrisanzio.wordpress.com/duke
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    42 mins
  • Venkat Subramaniam: I Teach Because I Learn

    Venkat Subramaniam: I Teach Because I Learn
    Sep 5 2025

    Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Venkat Subramaniam who was recognized with the Java Community Lifetime Achievement honors by Oracle's Sharat Chander at Devoxx UK in May 2024. Venkat is a Java Champion, author, speaker, founder of Agile Developer, co-founder of the dev2next conference, and teacher at the University of Houston.

    In this conversation, which is part of an ongoing series honoring Java pioneers, Venkat expresses profound humility about his accomplishments and credits industry giants and his passion for learning and sharing technical knowledge. He reflects on leaving his own company years ago to focus on teaching and technology, writing books like Cruising Along with Java, and speaking at over 45 conferences and 30 Java User Groups — every single year! Venkat has one of the most impressive global speaking schedules of anyone in the Java community.

    Venkat praises Java User Group leaders as "unsung heroes" for their organizational efforts and highlights Java 25's evolving features like structured concurrency, scoped values, pattern matching, and the instance main method, which helps simplify the learning process for new developers. Venkat also cites Java's agile six-month release cycle, which helps improve the smooth evolution of Java, increases developer engagement, and makes Java more suitable for today's rapidly expanding technology markets.

    Emphasizing teaching as reciprocal learning, Venkat advises students to engage mentors and senior developers to collaborate with juniors to help welcome into the community. He stresses that knowledge grows when shared. His mantra? Teaching fuels learning and he lives that ethic every day as he interacts with thousands of developers around the world.

    Venkat Subramaniam https://x.com/venkat_s

    Duke's Corner Java Podcast https://dukescorner.libsyn.com/site/

    Jim Grisanzio https://x.com/jimgris

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    41 mins
  • Bruno Souza: My Greatest Pride is the Community

    Bruno Souza: My Greatest Pride is the Community
    Aug 31 2025

    Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Bruno Souza, who is a Java Champion, leader of the SouJava User Group in Brazil, and a member of the JCP Executive Committee. Bruno received the first Java Community Lifetime Achievement recognition in October 2022 at JavaOne in Las Vegas. "I was totally surprised! I was jumping up and down! I was so honored! It's an honor to be a member of that group." he said.

    Bruno Souza is known as the "JavaMan" from Brazil and that nickname started back at Sun when Java was announced and Bruno started evangelizing the technology. Bruno's message to the community was "Open Standards and Open Source" as he began his community building efforts around Java. He continually brought to Brazil FOSS and Standards experts for community discussions, and he advocated for a standards-based Open Source implementation of Java that would pass the TCK.

    Bruno left Sun and then returned, and he also joined the JCP (Java Community Process). Now all these years later we have OpenJDK, and open JCP, and hundreds of independent JUGs that can participate in community building and also Java development.

    "Maybe my greatest pride, I think, is the idea of the Java User Groups community," Bruno says. "We have OpenJDK for development and the JCP for standards, but for me the real Java community is the Java User Groups! These are all volunteers who meet and help others participate and learn."

    Bruno in recent years has been talking a lot about building reputation and career by embracing the open-source lifestyle — writing code in Java, contributing to Open Source, and helping build the community itself. Since our work lives in public mailing lists and open-source code repositories, we earn credibility by being visible, contributing, engaging the community, and helping others get involve as well, Bruno says.

    Bruno advises that career is a long-term project: "The more you work on it, the more you grow, the more results you have. So, the sooner you start the better. This is not a sprint! This takes time."

    Getting back to Java itself, Bruno, like most Java developers, prefers the 6-month release cadence over the older system of multi-year development and release cycles. There is a constant flow of technology now which allows for more interactions between the Oracle engineers and engineers in the community.

    "Everything you see today in Java is possible because of the 6-month release process. I just loved it when the guys did that! I think it's amazing! The fact that we now have two releases per year changed Java. I think we're positioning Java to be even stronger in the years to come. I'm very excited about the whole thing," Bruno says.

    Throughout this conversation Bruno provides a wonderful history of Java since he's been involved from the very beginning! "People don't remember that Java was a community from the very beginning!" Bruno says. "We were able to look at the source code from the very beginning and that allowed us to build the community from the very beginning with lots of other companies joining." And then the JCP was created to allow Sun and the community to discuss the standardization of Java. And then OpenJDK was a huge step because now Java would be everywhere with Oracle leading and building the community. "Java is more participative today under Oracle than during the Sun times."

    "Java + Open Source + Community: That's what grows our career. That's what grows Java too!" — Bruno Souza

    Bruno Souza
    https://x.com/brjavaman
    https://x.com/SouJava

    Duke's Corner Java Podcast
    https://dukescorner.libsyn.com

    Jim Grisanzio
    https://x.com/jimgris
    https://jimgrisanzio.wordpress.com
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimgris/

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    40 mins