Duke’s Corner Java Podcast, March 15, 2026 — Bob Treacy: From the Factory Floor to Harvard and 30 Years of Java

Bob Treacy started his career as a union steward on the factory floor at GE Aircraft Engines. After earning a BS and MS in Computer Science from Boston University while also raising a family, he jumped into software, never looked back, and remains at the leading edge of Java and AI today. He picked up Java in the summer of 1995 at a training session in New York, and the language has been central to his work ever since. Today he is Principal Software Architect and Data Engineer at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, and he has attended more than 20 JavaOne conferences, which is most of Java’s lifespan.

Getting to all those JavaOne events has always been non-negotiable. “Every job I’ve ever gone to, one of the things I demand is that I be able to go to conferences like JavaOne.” The reason, he says, is simple: “It brings a lot of different perspectives, sharing experiences, learning from each other, and just a great group of people.”

At JavaOne 2026 he’ll present work from Harvard’s Dataverse project, an open source platform for preserving and sharing research data. The problem he is solving is straightforward but persistent because researchers treat the repository like a simple archive and skip the metadata that makes their datasets discoverable. His solution uses LLM embeddings and a graph database to compare new dataset descriptions against existing ones and recommend subject categories automatically.

The conversation goes well beyond his upcoming JavaOne session itself. Bob lived Java’s entire evolution from the rough early days of applets through HotSpot, modularity, and the modern work on GPU access via Project Babylon and the Foreign Function and Memory API. On AI, he says that “I think there has to be a human in the loop.” He sees LLMs as causal models, not reasoning systems. “Given these words that came before, what’s the next word going to be? That’s not really intelligence. I don’t totally buy some of the narratives that are out there about AGI.” His advice to students is equally grounded in simplicity. He advises students to learn the code, but spend more time understanding how large systems work together. As he puts it, “just doing pure coding” is no longer enough.

Bob Tracey: LinkedIn | Jim Grisanzio: LinkedIn, X/Twitter

Marit van Dijk and Anton Arhipov: 25 Years of IntelliJ IDEA | Duke’s Corner Java Podcast | January 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 context the IDE provides and its understanding of your project structure and dependencies makes AI suggestions more relevant and actionable.

JavaOne: Where the Community Comes Together

Anton will be presenting at JavaOne 2026 in March, and both he and Marit shared their perspectives on what makes the conference special.

For Marit, JavaOne has always been unique. The “who’s who of Java” will be there, she says. Last year’s conference-ending “Meet the Architects” panel particularly stood out. The audience could ask Oracle Java architects basically everything about Java for over an hour. This kind of access to the core engineers building and shaping the future of the language is something you would not normally get at any other conference.

Anton shares his view that JavaOne has always been the conference to get all the news about Java. He has always viewed the event as the place where you get condensed information about what’s going on with Java all in one place — the language, the platform, the standards, the frameworks, and the community.

Community and Looking Forward

Marit and Anton maintain close relationships with the developer community through conferences and Java User Groups. Marit says that they have many JUGs in the Netherlands, and many of them invite her to come and speak at their meetups throughout the year. Also, when they travel somewhere for a conference, they look for opportunities to combine that trip with local JUGs to speak there and connect with people. This direct engagement with the open Java community lets Marit and Anton talk to developers directly, see how they can help them better, understand what developers are struggling with, and take that feedback back to the engineering teams. The same authenticity extends to how JetBrains approaches IntelliJ development. The engineering team maintains close relationships with framework developers and library maintainers and OpenJDK to ensure that when new versions release, IntelliJ users have good support from day one.

As IntelliJ IDEA celebrates 25 years, the development continues. They keep releasing new features with every version: the Spring Debugger that helps developers understand their Spring projects at runtime, Command Completion that enables developers to perform commands without memorizing shortcuts, and more. The anniversary celebrations for the teams have included parties with cakes featuring old logos, a game plugin that lets developers play video games while AI generates their code, and social media campaigns engaging the global community. For developers curious about IntelliJ IDEA, Marit and Anton encourage people to subscribe to the JetBrains YouTube channel where they regularly produce videos explaining new features.

This 25-year milestone represents more than just history. It represents an ongoing commitment to understand code, support developers, build the Java community, and evolve alongside the entire ecosystem. This pattern is pervasive among Java developers and also the many companies offering developers advanced tools. The smart IDE that so impressed Anton and Marit years ago continues to get smarter — right along with many other tools and technologies that are growing as a result of the Java platform itself.

Anton Arhipov: X , BlueSky, Linkedin
Marit van Dijk: Website, Linkedin, BlueSky, X 
Jim Grisanzio: X, Linkedin
Duke’s Corner Java Podcast: Libsyn
Oracle Java Developer Relations: Inside.java, Dev.Java, Learn.java
Topics Discussed: IntelliJ IDEA 25th Birthday, The Java Dukes, What’s new in IntelliJ IDEA 2025, Spring Debugger, Command Completion

Jeanne Boyarsky: Get Ready for Java 25 Certification | Duke’s Corner Java Podcast, January 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 JavaOne was meeting Duke and seeing her book in the Java bookstore.

Advice for Students

When asked for advice for students learning computer science, Jeanne recommends learning the fundamentals while using AI to help. “Rather than using AI to write the code, have it give you practice questions or do code review or ideas of projects,” she suggests.

Students also often ask what professional developers do daily. Her answer provides a realistic picture of professional software development. “Every day is a little bit different, but most days include a mix of meetings, working with my coworkers, code reviews, writing code, now with AI,” she says. Problem solving takes many forms, from performance questions like “Why is this slow?” to security concerns about making systems more secure.

A significant part of her role involves understanding what users actually need. “A lot of the time users ask for what they think they want and not what they actually want,” Jeanne says. Through user interviews, she works to understand what they are trying to accomplish, which often leads to better solutions than what they initially requested. “So not just building what you’re told is a huge thing, especially as you become more senior in your career,” she says. The goal is to make users productive and happy, not just to code.

Technology keeps changing, and for Jeanne, that constant evolution makes the work fun. She has embraced AI tools as coding assistants, using them for pair programming, generating tests, and suggesting next steps. When her team piloted coding assistants, they focused on choosing a tool rather than waiting for the perfect tool. “The important thing is to get a tool and get people going and using it and being more productive,” she says. The learning curve is not high, and the tools pay for themselves almost immediately.

However, Jeanne says that it’s important to understand what you are doing rather than using AI to replace that understanding. “It’s about understanding what you’re doing and not using the AI to replace it because at least with the coding assistance, it’s right 90, 95% of the time,” she says. She talked about an example of asking AI to generate a regular expression while pairing with a junior programmer. The AI started writing it properly but then made an error. “I noticed it right away because I know what correct is,” she says. After giving it another prompt with a hint, it produced the correct result. Without knowing what correct looks like, developers cannot effectively verify and fix AI-generated code.

The AI Hype Cycle

Regarding concerns about AI making developers obsolete, Jeanne is pragmatic. “I’ve heard that enough times that I’m a little skeptical,” she says, adding that this is the third or fourth time some technology has been predicted to take all the jobs. Instead, she sees AI as enabling developers to accomplish more and make users happier. She has a big backlog “that goes on forever.” She says it would be great if we could get more of it done and in the hands of customers.

“I think we’re at that phase in the hype cycle for AI where people are talking about AI like it solves all your problems, [but] it solves some of your problems. But because there’s less acknowledgement of the ones it doesn’t solve, it’s easier to have that skepticism.” When asked if AI represents a paradigm shift or just the latest tool, she responds: “Right now, I think it’s the latest tool, but I do think we’re going to get to the point where we’re programming at a higher level.”

Duke’s Corner Java Podcast — 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 shout out to the garbage collection people that do that amazing stuff,” acknowledging the often-invisible work that performance engineers at Oracle do to make Java faster and more efficient for developers. 

Throughout the discussion, Chris talked at length about developers, the user community, and the technology. He has a nice habit of mixing the issues seamlessly. Check out this gem below where he beautifully concluded that Java is far more than a language because it’s really a movement.

“The user community is, generally speaking, pretty satisfied with [Java]. And it’s a broad enough user community. It’s got people like me. It’s got people still doing desktop Java. It’s got people using it on servers. And there’s a whole tool ecosystem out there. Personally, I prefer working right at the command line. I always have. But the application that I mentioned we built using NetBeans, which came out of Sun originally. And it’s quite a nice IDE. I don’t think it’s the most popular one. It doesn’t really matter. It’s still a very nice one. And it gave us a big part of that long-term support. And lately, I find myself using other JVM languages. So it’s not just Java. It’s the JVM that underpins it, that has permitted a flowering of alternative approaches to things that, generally speaking, work very well together with Java. So, it’s a pretty cool thing. It’s a movement. It’s not just a programming language.”

Consulting, Professionalism, and Cultural Differences

On consulting and professionalism, Chris stresses the importance of contributing to the team to best serve customers. He cautions against embracing some Silicon Valley software mantras — such as “fail early, fail often” — when applied outside their intended prototyping context. “And I know failure is a thing that people talk about in software development. Fail early, fail often. But you don’t hear consultants saying fail often. It’s not a good look for a consulting company,” he says.

Instead, Chris focuses on engineering being technically excellent and using open communications to help ensure the team’s success. “In a consulting organization, you really have to be a team player,” he says. He clarifies that getting prototypes out for feedback certainly has merit: “Get something out there and [letting] people throw rocks at it and [recording] what they say [that’s] false and recognize that, okay, you failed, but at least you moved the ball down the field. I’m a huge fan of prototyping.”

Throughout the years in his career Chris also observed cultural differences in problem-solving approaches around the world. He says that some cultures prefer abstract discussion while others focus on concrete data. “Never mind all these grand theories. Let’s actually look what we have. And really, you know, like don’t go down that rabbit hole either. Look at what you have and base things on the reality that you know about,” he advises. He warns against getting lost in theoretical discussions: “Resist the old, you know, the medieval concept of how many angels on the head of a pin kind of thing. Just don’t go there.”

The Human Side of Technology Work

Chris emphasizes that technology work remains fundamentally human. Near the end of the conversation, Chris focuses what he sees as most important: “I would just emphasize maybe that we’re human beings here and we’re driven by our human desires and wills. And as you rightly pointed out, cultural things roll into that,” he says. Despite all the technical discussion about tools, languages, methods, and preferences, the work is ultimately done by human beings with human needs and motivations.

Cultural factors, listening skills, and collaborative team approaches matter as much as technical competence. “Remember, you spend a long time of your life at your job. And so, it’s important that that contributes to your humanity and that your humanity contributes back.” He encourages developers to remember their humanity throughout their careers, to contribute meaningfully to their teams and communities, and to avoid becoming caricatures of the latest corporate culture. “It’s really important to remember that you’re part of a group of human beings here. You don’t want to be a Dilbert comic,” he says, using the comic strip as a reference point for the dehumanized corporate worker trapped in absurd bureaucracy.

On the importance of listening, Chris shares wisdom from a sign he saw years ago: “If God had intended man to speak more than he listened, he would have given him two mouths and one ear. Listen more, say less.” When discussing custom solutions versus off-the-shelf tools, and after discussing how being familiar with algorithms allows you to blend approaches for better solutions, Chris delivers what became the title of the episode: “Basically, you know, if there’s not something off the shelf that —  Don’t be afraid to create!” This is a message that Chris encourages all developers to embrace because they have such advanced skills right at their fingertips.

Advice for Students: Learning Then and Now

That creation framework extends to Chris’s advice to students learning software development. Students today face different challenges than he did decades ago. Chris compared his learning experience years ago with his daughter’s more recent computer science education. Modern students learn differently through sophisticated IDEs that suggest improvements and refactor code automatically, while Chris and his colleagues back in the day learned using only a command line, a text editor, and a compiler.

“The difference is really striking between the two because the only tool we had was the command line, the text editor, and the compiler,” he says. Modern IDEs provide capabilities like automatic refactoring and code suggestions that fundamentally change what students focus on during their education. He notes that learning with modern tools creates almost a different world than learning in his era: “And so it was really almost learning a different discipline for her than it was for me.”

He advises students to try multiple approaches to problem-solving and to explore all their options to apply their technical skills in many diverse fields. “And I think if there’s a lesson to be taken from that, sometimes it might be fun once you’ve learned how to do something in the IDEs to try and do it the old way and see what it’s like just creating from nothing, you know, and starting out that way. And vice versa, guys like me that always insist on using VI at the command line, we should learn an IDE. It’s time.”

Finally, Chris reflects on the value of learning multiple approaches to solving problems. This goes beyond just technical skills to understanding the problem itself more deeply: “I think learning several different ways to solve a problem ultimately teaches you more about the problem. And learning more about the problem, I think, teaches you a bit about yourself and how you go about solving things and your value to your organization.” During the entire conversation on technology, Chris consistently wove in the human element. We are people, after all. We’re just using digital tools to create. 

Duke’s Corner Java Podcast: Barry Burd: Teaching Java as an Art Form

Conversation 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. 

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 commented about the community but also added this bit: “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. 

Full Transcript

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Quotes from the Barry Burd Episode

On Teaching and Enthusiasm

Context: Barry discusses his approach to teaching and what drives him in the classroom. He emphasizes the importance of enthusiasm and helping students who are motivated by the subject matter itself, not just career prospects.

Time Stamp: (00:31:42)

Quote: “When I have a class full of people where they’re asking questions and most importantly, laughing at my jokes, I am thrilled. For me, it’s a party. It’s not a classroom. It’s a sort of a, let’s get together and have fun with this topic.”

On the Love of Programming

Context: Barry describes his teaching philosophy and how he tries to convey his passion for computer science to his students, while also acknowledging that not everyone shares that passion.

Time Stamp: (00:32:05)

Quote: “I want them  to understand that I love talking about this stuff and that if they share any of that love, I want them to participate in it.”

On Computer Science as an Art Form

Context: When asked why computer science matters and what he tells students about the field, Barry explains his perspective on programming as an artistic endeavor rather than purely practical skill.

Time Stamp: (00:44:05)

Quote: “For a lot of the courses, I treat it as an art form. There’s such a thing as elegant code and there’s such a thing as inelegant code. There’s such a thing as a beautiful algorithm and there’s such a thing as an algorithm that shouldn’t exist but does.”

On the Beauty of Computer Science

Context: Barry elaborates on why he teaches computer science, comparing it to art appreciation and explaining his personal motivation for working in the field.

Time Stamp: (00:46:05)

Quote: “When I think, why computer science? It’s because it’s artistic! It’s, oh yeah, I mean, it’s useful. And I certainly respect that. And I’m glad that people develop useful things for it. But my own interest in it is the beauty of it.”

On Java’s Industrial Strength

Context: Barry discusses why Java has had such longevity and what makes it special compared to other languages, particularly its reliability for critical systems.

Time Stamp: (00:55:59)

Quote: “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.”

On Java’s Elegance and Thoughtful Design

Context: Barry explains what drew him to Java and what keeps him committed to the language, emphasizing the careful design philosophy behind it.

Time Stamp: (00:53:03)

Quote: “The other important part is it is so elegant. It is written, it is created, so thoughtfully.”

Time Stamp: (00:53:42)

Quote: “When Brian Getz and his team create new features, new classes, new parts of the Java ecosystem, they do it with the most careful thought possible.”

Time Stamp: (00:54:05)

Quote: “Overall, the platform is so well thought out. It’s such, for the purpose of teaching, it’s such a sensible way of exposing the underlying concepts of object-oriented programming and now more recently, data-driven, data-oriented programming.”

On Languages That Lack Industrial Strength

Context: Barry contrasts Java’s thoughtful design with other languages that feel less carefully constructed.

Time Stamp: (00:54:44)

Quote: “There are other languages whose names I won’t mention that seem like they’re pieces of stuff thrown together willy-nilly, not at particularly industrial strength.”

On Java as a Unified Whole

Context: Barry describes his appreciation for how Java’s features work together coherently and how this aligns with his way of thinking.

Time Stamp: (00:54:59)

Quote: “Java is this unified whole. I appreciate ideas that I can think of as one thing.”

Time Stamp: (00:55:42)

Quote: “There’s so much of Java that was created thoughtfully that in my mind feels like one idea, one snapshot. And that’s what I like to teach. And that’s what I like to write about.”

On the Six-Month Release Cycle

Context: Barry discusses what has helped Java remain vibrant and relevant over 30 years, particularly the introduction of more frequent releases in recent years. 

Time Stamp: (01:01:05)

Quote: “The introduction of the six-month release cycle seems to have given an injection of life into the Java ecosystem that has really, really been good for it.”

On Java’s Future Sustainability

Context: When asked whether Java can sustain its quality and community over time, Barry expresses confidence in the platform’s future.

Time Stamp: (01:01:58)

Quote: “It seems to be self-sustaining. The introduction of the six-month release cycle seems to have given an injection of life into the Java ecosystem that has really, really been good for it. The fact that the stewards, the people at the head of the story who are managing the overall platform are doing a tremendous job right now.”

On Industrial Strength and Elegance Together

Context: Barry reflects on what the Java community needs going forward, balancing practical reliability with aesthetic appeal.

Time Stamp: (01:02:23)

Quote: “We need code that works for the developers, and we need code that’s elegant for us dreamers like me, crazy people.”

On Education Section at JavaOne

Context: Barry recalls an important moment when he realized that Oracle was seriously interested in the education sector, which made him feel less like an imposter at Java conferences.

Time Stamp: (00:21:32, 00:22:00)

Quote: “That educator session at JavaOne in 2025 … that was the first time that I saw that … Oracle is getting hyped up about the education sector. That was great! That was a wonderful session.”

On Java User Groups Evolution

Context: Barry describes the dramatic transformation of his local Java user group from informal learning sessions to a professional organization featuring top speakers.

Time Stamp: (00:02:45)

Quote: “We would, somebody in the group would find a topic to talk about, some platform, some piece of software, some Java thing, and they would kind of learn about it the week before and go in and talk about it. I gave some speeches like that, some presentations where I had no idea what I was talking about. I just learned it the week before.”

Time Stamp: (00:03:35)

Quote: “Suddenly we’ve gone from this group where it’s a bunch of people just spouting stuff that they learned last week to a first class Java User Group.”

On Being Thrilled by Haskell

Context: Barry recounts asking Brian Goetz what language he uses when “cheating on Java” and being delighted by the answer.

Time Stamp: (00:51:40)

Quote: “I was thrilled. His answer was Haskell. And I was just like, yeah, yes, man, yes. That’s a wonderful language.”

On Backward Compatibility

Context: Barry explains why Java’s backward compatibility has been crucial for his work as an author, contrasting it with other platforms that break frequently.

Time Stamp: (00:52:05)

Quote: “I’ve written six editions of beginning programming with Java for Dummies, and I’ve written eight editions of Java for Dummies. And the entire time that I’ve written these books, there was exactly one program that broke from one edition to the other. Just one.”

Time Stamp: (00:52:37)

Quote: “I’m working right now with another platform and, you know, they change it every month. They break things. Oh my God, how am I going to deal with these? I spend half my time just fixing programs that were working two weeks ago. I hate that. Backward compatibility is really nice.”

On First Encountering Java

Context: Barry recalls his first experience with Java when it was still in beta, reading the language specifications and being impressed by the design decisions around inheritance and interfaces.

Time Stamp: (00:53:12)

Quote: “The first time I encountered Java was Java was in beta and I downloaded the language specs. And I read it and I started off and it said it looked like C, C++ for a while. But then I read what they’re going to do with inheritance and what they’re going to do with interfaces. Wow, that is, as my colleague said years ago, that was like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes.”

On Feature Development Process

Context: Barry discusses how the Java team approaches adding new features to the language, emphasizing their methodical and thoughtful process.

Time Stamp: (00:54:27)

Quote: “In general, when they add a feature, it’s because they’ve spent a long, long time making sure that that feature fits nicely into the language, that that feature is usable, that that feature isn’t going to cause conflict and trouble with other parts of the language and cause trouble for other developers.”

On Teaching Through Visualization

Context: Barry describes his teaching methodology and how he works to help students conceptualize programming concepts as complete mental pictures rather than just syntax.

Time Stamp: (00:30:32)

Quote: “My teaching method changes every single day. Every day I’m trying to think of a new way of drawing pictures within their minds. You know, a loop isn’t a bunch of letters, F-O-R, open parentheses, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It’s something that you can see. It’s something you can feel.”

Time Stamp: (00:31:20)

Quote: “This is the picture. This is what you should think of all at once when you think of the quicksort. It’s not a bunch of lines of code. It’s this idea, you know, watch those little pieces bubble from one part of the list to another.”

From 2017 to 2020 I traveled to conferences around the world and streamed hundreds of interviews with developers from Oracle and the FOSS community. There were several of us on the developer marketing team back then who had full streaming kits and we were all crazy busy all the time. Nothing I’ve done recently compares to the challenges I faced during that five year period and I grew significantly as a result. Pain is a remarkably efficient teacher.

We couldn’t stream from some countries, like China, so in those cases we just recorded and posted the videos later. And in other countries we had poor Internet connections (1 mbps in India was hardly enough), so we’d just record there too. We didn’t ship our stuff professionally, either. Instead, each of us on the video team traveled with our own kit, which included cameras, microphones, audio mixers, streaming boxes, and a variety of other stuff. We didn’t usually have lights because the kit just got too big and heavy to keep in one case and it became too difficult to drag everything through airports. We needed our cloths, too, of course. So for the larger events, we had the local events team provide lights, which itself was interesting since each local team offered vastly different lighting setups. I remember once in China the team enthusiastically showed up with two massive lights perfectly appropriate for a baseball stadium. Yeah, that didn’t work.

Each of us on the team usually worked alone in that we didn’t have any producers to schedule things and run and fix the equipment on site. And we were pretty much on our own to book our own meetings and improvise our way through every interview and manage all the video or audio issues in real time. And there were many issues to troubleshoot, I can assure you! We weren’t experts in AV production so we did the best we could and we learned live along the way. The setup took hours to get everything working because things never worked initially. Sometimes you’d have power but no Internet. Sometimes you’d have power and Internet but no stage! And it went on from there. Looking back on it all now, though, I think we did pretty well even when the sound wasn’t perfect or the video was too dark and out of sync with the voices. It was a little hacky and handmade, but honestly, that sort of feel fit well with the developer culture we were embracing. Everyone we spoke with appreciated our efforts and that really meant a lot to us. I say that because I’ve come across some people I know recently who have criticized our work to the point of laughter. That hurt deeply initially, I must admit. But then when all these years later I see those very same people working with superior equipment and significant financial and staff support without the insane pressure of streaming at events, which is a uniquely challenging experience. And I have to ask, when we were doing this work way back then, what were they doing? But ultimately for me that behavior on their part is helpful for weeding my network.

Anyway, in the images below we are at Oracle Code in San Francisco in the fall of 2019. That Oracle Code event was actually part of a developer series we did with about 20 events per year around the world. We on the team shared responsibilities for those events, obviously, based on where we lived and our own schedules. I have hundreds of such images like the ones below of us setting up the stage and doing the interviews. I’ll post some more over time as I tell more of this story. I loved doing this stage streaming work, though. It was really challenging doing things live and getting all the gear to work properly while at the same time attempting to facilitate interesting conversations on a razor thin schedule — and doing it alone! I started out really rough initially in 2017, but over time I learned the gear and got better at interviewing people live, which for me was challenging given that I couldn’t speak fluently until my mid 30s since I stuttered profoundly for most of my life. The experience of the stuttering lingers but I’m largely over it now. And then as I was really getting the hang of the steaming projects, everything blew up in 2020 with everyone’s favorite little virus. And then after that the team blew up three times so it no longer exists at all. I was bounced around to several teams in the process as well. So, I’m disappointed I can’t do this work anymore — I even miss dragging the kit through the airports and getting detained many times along the way! The airport officials with guns in India and China who separated me from my stuff for hours at midnight was a nice touch, for example. Getting yelled at was cool too! They went through everything and made quite a mess of things. Oh, the memories. Maybe some new opportunities will come up at some point. 2020 isn’t over, after all. You’ve noticed that, right? Change is the order of the day. Be hopeful. Keep working it, baby! That’s my position, anyway.

During this event in 2019 my three colleagues and I streamed more than 50 interviews over three days with developers talking about a variety of technologies touching the Oracle ecosystem including Java, Database, Cloud, Applications Development, Linux, and Open Source. We spoke with some partners, customers, and Oracle executives too. And we also hosted and streamed live the Java Duke Awards Ceremony from our stage that day (as we did the previous year). It was all day every day! I miss it.

Jim Grisanzio (left) interviews Chris Thalinger (right) and Christian Wimmer (right) at Oracle Code 2019 in San Francisco.

Duke’s Corner Java Podcast: Mattias Karlsson: I think it’s Brilliant

Conversation 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 today’s 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.

Links: Apple | Bluesky | LinkedIn | Libsyn | WordPress | WordPress | X | X | YouTube

Here are some quotes from the conversation:

Java Community Lifetime Achievement Recognition

Surprise and Emotion of Receiving Recognition
Timestamp: 00:01:35–00:01:45
Context: Mattias was unexpectedly honored with the Java Community Lifetime Achievement recognition at Jfokus 2024 in Stockholm, an event he organizes. The recognition came as a surprise during the opening keynote by Georges Saab and Sharat Chander. Mattias shares that the moment was deeply emotional, reflecting his long-standing contributions to the Java community, including his leadership of the Java User Group in Sweden for over 25 years. He notes the audience’s reaction and his own heartfelt response, underscoring the significance of being acknowledged by peers in a community he has dedicated much of his career to fostering.
Quote: “I didn’t know about it. I was really touched. People that were in the audience did see, you know, a little bit of tear of joy or whatever. I was really touched about it.”

Reason for Recognition
Timestamp: 00:00:48–00:01:02
Context: When asked about the Java Community Lifetime Achievement recognition, Mattias attributes it to his extensive involvement in the Java community, particularly his leadership in running the Java User Group in Stockholm for decades. He reflects on his role in organizing community events, including Jfokus, which has become a cornerstone event for Java developers globally. His work has involved consulting, fostering collaboration, sharing knowledge, and building a vibrant community, which likely contributed to this prestigious acknowledgment. Mattias also mentions his surprise at being recognized, as he was unaware of the criteria or previous recipients, highlighting his humility and focus on community over personal accolades.
Quote: “Well, so I think it’s called Java Community Lifetime Achievements. So my guess is, and part of this is because I’ve been involved in the community for a very, very long time, running the Java User Group in Stockholm and so on.”

Feeling Honored and Humbled
Timestamp: 00:03:23–00:03:28
Context: Mattias expresses deep humility upon receiving the Java Community Lifetime Achievement recognition, noting that he was shocked to be placed in the same category as notable figures like Bruno Souza and Venkat Subramaniam. He shares that he reached out to Sharat Chander at Oracle to understand more about the recognition, indicating his surprise and lack of prior knowledge about the honor. This moment underscores his modesty and the unexpected nature of the recognition, which he sees as a testament to his long-term dedication to the Java community through organizing events, speaking at conferences, mentoring developers, working in the field, and consulting with companies.
Quote: “So I was shocked and honored, very humbled!”

Jfokus and Community Building

Evolution of Jfokus
Timestamp: 00:32:10–00:32:31
Context: Mattias recounts the origins of Jfokus, which began as an extension of the Java User Group in Stockholm he has led for 25 years. Initially planned as a modest one-day event in 2007 with an expected 200 attendees, Jfokus exceeded expectations when over 500 people signed up, creating logistical challenges but marking the start of its growth into a major Java conference. Now a three-day event attracting around 2,000 attendees, Jfokus has become a premier platform for Java and FOSS discussions, reflecting Mattias’s vision of scaling community engagement while maintaining a focus on cutting-edge technology and developer collaboration.
Quote: “So we were running the Java User Group and then we decided so maybe we should do a one day event and just to see how that works out and then that was back in 2007 and we were expecting 200 people and we had a venue for 200 people-ish and then suddenly we have 500 plus signed up.”

Jfokus Anniversary
Timestamp: 00:31:25–00:31:35
Context: Mattias highlights the upcoming 20th anniversary of Jfokus, set for February 2026, as a milestone for the conference and the Java community in Stockholm. He notes that the call for speakers has just opened, signaling ongoing preparations for a significant celebration of the event’s history. This anniversary underscores Jfokus’s evolution from a small user group gathering to a globally recognized conference, reflecting Mattias’s long-term commitment to fostering a space where developers can learn, network, and share innovations in Java and related Open Source technologies. Here he ends the podcast conversation with a note on the longevity of Jfokus.
Quote: “I mean, we could mention that JFocus is having its 20th anniversary!”

Culture of Jfokus
Timestamp: 00:36:05–00:36:29
Context: Mattias emphasizes the unique culture of Jfokus, which he intentionally designs to feel like an extension of a user group, fostering a sense of community and belonging. He aims to create an environment where attendees feel welcome and can openly engage with one another, akin to gathering in a friend’s living room. This approach stems from his experience running the Stockholm Java User Group, where community bonding was central. The feedback he cherishes most—that Jfokus feels like “coming home”—reflects his success in blending a warm, inclusive atmosphere with high-quality technical content, making it a standout event for developers worldwide.
Quote: “So the basic idea is that we look at this as an extended user group or like an extended community event. So we really try to mix the community feeling. Everybody should feel really welcome. Everybody should be open and transparent. Talk to each other. It should be a nice mingle. I mean, the best ever feedback I got at some point was like, Mattias, it feels like we’re coming home to you. We are sitting down with you in your living room, just like friends.”

Professionalism at Jfokus
Timestamp: 00:36:31–00:36:56
Context: While prioritizing a community-driven atmosphere, Mattias also strives to ensure Jfokus operates with a high level of professionalism. He discusses the importance of making speakers and exhibitors feel supported, with seamless logistics, clear communication, and advanced presentation technology. This balance of warmth and professionalism is evident in the high-end production elements, such as quality lighting and cameras, which Jim Grisanzio notes during the podcast. Mattias’s attention to detail ensures that Jfokus delivers a polished experience, distinguishing it from purely corporate events while maintaining a community ethos.
Quote: “I want to run it like super professionally, super slick. I want all the speakers to feel that they are really welcome, get everything they need. Also with exhibiting partners, they should have a flawless session.”

Jfokus Attendee Mix
Timestamp: 00:32:55–00:33:22
Context: Mattias describes the diverse audience at Jfokus, which includes a mix of senior and junior developers, as well as professionals from various industries such as banking, contracting, and startups. The conference attracts attendees primarily from Europe but also from places like the United States and Japan, reflecting its global appeal. This diversity underscores Jfokus’s role as a broad technology conference, not limited to a single sector, and highlights Sweden’s strong tech ecosystem, with companies like Spotify and Oracle contributing to a vibrant developer community.
Quote: “It’s very mixed. The conference is not like a company thing. It’s a technology conference. We have people coming from the banking industry, from the contractors, from all of the startups in Sweden are coming. We have senior developers, we have juniors, and we have people from all over the world.”

Java Technology and Its Appeal

Java’s Ubiquity
Timestamp: 00:24:49–00:24:54
Context: Mattias shares his perspective on why Java is a natural destination for developers, given its widespread adoption across industries. He argues that regardless of where programmers start, the prevalence of Java in major corporations ensures they will absolutely encounter it eventually. This view is rooted in his experience working with companies in Sweden and reflects his belief in Java’s enduring relevance in the tech world.
Quote: “As long as people start doing programming, sooner or later they will end up with Java anyway.”

Java’s Stability and Performance
Timestamp: 00:10:46–00:11:02
Context: Mattias praises Java’s unique ability to maintain both backward and forward compatibility, allowing code written a decade ago to run efficiently on modern JVMs. He highlights how advancements like virtual threads have improved performance without requiring developers to modify their code, demonstrating Java’s ability to evolve while preserving stability. This characteristic, he notes, sets Java apart and empowers developers to focus on innovation rather than maintenance.
Quote: “It’s both backward and forward compatible in the sense that, I mean, if I did write a Java program 10 years ago, I can just fire it up on the latest version of the JVM, best case and it will probably work fine and on top of that it will be faster and more performant than it was 10 years ago.”

Six-Month Release Cycle
Timestamp: 00:16:38–00:16:41
Context: Mattias strongly supports Java’s six-month release cycle, which he calls “brilliant” for balancing innovation with stability. He recalls debates within the community about adopting this faster cadence, noting his advocacy for the change due to his experience with agile development. The regular releases provide stable updates, experimental features, and a clear roadmap, which he believes benefits developers by keeping Java fresh and predictable without breaking existing systems.
Quote: “So, I think it’s brilliant!”

JVM’s Technical Strength
Timestamp: 00:09:07–00:09:14
Context: Mattias underscores the advanced technical ability of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), particularly its garbage collection, which was a significant advantage in Java’s early days. He explains that the JVM’s sophisticated capabilities, often described as “magic tricks,” have been a cornerstone of Java’s success and enables robust performance and scalability that attract large corporations to the platform.
Quote: “I love the language, but also the platform, the JVM. So, the JVM does quite a lot of magic tricks that is technically really hard to understand how it works. If you go way back, just the fact that we had a proper garbage collection was, you know, a big thing.”

Java’s Scalability
Timestamp: 00:11:51–00:12:07
Context: Reflecting on his time at King, the company behind Candy Crush in Stockholm, Mattias highlights how Java and the JVM enabled the backend systems to scale effectively during the game’s massive success. This experience reinforces his view of Java’s reliability and scalability, which are critical for handling the demands of high-traffic applications in major companies.
Quote: “So I used to work for a company called King, which that makes a very famous game called Candy Crush. And I mean, we were running the backend servers there on the JVM and Java, and that helped us scale up when that game became successful.”

Developer Experience and Learning

Advice for Young Developers
Timestamp: 00:27:06–00:27:23
Context: Mattias advises young developers to focus on learning programming fundamentals, as Java’s widespread use ensures they will encounter it naturally and everntually. He emphasizes that mastering problem-solving and engineering principles is key, as Java’s prominence in industry—evident in companies like Spotify—makes it a likely tool for their careers. This advice aligns with his belief that Java’s ecosystem supports developers in building robust, scalable solutions.
Quote: “Every company is using Java, or most companies are. And if they don’t, they will be in the future. And I think that is a really interesting comment because it speaks to the fact that it might not matter to a student where you start as long as you learn the fundamental processes of solving problems with code and becoming an engineer, a software engineer, you’re going to have to learn multiple technologies. And once you discover Java, which you certainly will, then Java speaks for itself.”

Using AI for Learning
Timestamp: 00:26:26–00:26:51
Context: Mattias shares how he uses AI tools, such as those integrated into IDEs like Cursor, to stay updated with modern Java features, particularly functional programming techniques. He notes that AI helps him bridge the gap between his older coding style and newer Java advancements, suggesting that students and developers can leverage AI for learning new frameworks and languages efficiently. This approach reflects his adaptability and openness to evolving technologies.
Quote: “So I’m using AI as a learning tool now. It helped me write code, but it also helped me to learn functional ways of doing stuff that I have not been so good at before. I mean, even if student is not doing that, I think that you can have AI supported learning for new frameworks, new languages, newer versions of Java or any other framework or tools.”

Early Java Experience
Timestamp: 00:21:28–00:21:33
Context: Mattias recalls his early experiences with Java around 1998–1999, noting its stability as a standout feature despite initial drawbacks like slow startup times. He contrasts Java with other languages he used, such as C++ and Visual Basic, and highlights how Java’s reliability made it a compelling choice for web development and enterprise systems at the time.
Quote: “So one is that it worked. It was stable and continued to work.”

Transition to Java
Timestamp: 00:19:53–00:20:00
Context: Mattias describes his transition to Java in the late 1990s while working at Ericsson, where he began using Java Server Pages for web interfaces to legacy systems. This marked his shift from languages like C++ and Visual Basic to Java, which he adopted for its growing relevance in web development. His early work with Java’s pre-1.0 versions laid the foundation for his long-term commitment to the platform.
Quote: “But then I think around 98, 99, I was moving into Java, and I was, like many, started with the web.”

Duke’s Corner Java Podcast: Venkat Subramaniam: I Teach Because I Learn

Jim Grisanzio from Oracle 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.

Here are some links on the web where this interview can be found: Apple | Bluesky | Bluesky | LinkedIn | LinkedIn | Libsyn | WordPress | WordPress | X | X | YouTube

Also, below are some quotes and the specific context of the quotes from the conversation split into sections.

Community Recognition and Humility

Unexpected Award Shock
Timestamp: 00:01:16
Context: During the conversation, Venkat recalls the moment he was awarded the Java Community Lifetime Achievement honors at Devoxx UK in May 2024, an initiative led by Sharat Chander of Oracle’s Java Developer Relations to recognize community contributions. He describes being caught off guard right before a keynote when Shar made the announcement, emphasizing the vital role of community members in the Java ecosystem. Venkat shares his nervousness and surprise, feeling unprepared for such recognition amidst esteemed industry figures.
Quote: “I was truly shocked, honestly. If you want me to truly explain the feeling, I was very nervous being there and did not see this coming. I don’t think I consider myself as worthy of being received compared to the giants I mentioned in the industry today.”

Humbled by Giants
Timestamp: 00:00:49
Context: Early in the interview, Venkat expresses profound gratitude for the award, emphasizing his humility in being recognized alongside prominent Java contributors. He references Newton’s quote to highlight that his achievements build on the foundational work of others, acknowledging the mentors and peers who have shaped his career and strengthened the Java community through their contributions.
Quote: “I look up so many giants that are in the field and I’m truly humbled for having been recognized. I want to channel in the words of Newton. He said, I see the farthest because I am standing on the shoulders of the giants. I’m very humbled and thankful for the giants that brought me up to here and I couldn’t be here without it.”

Undeserving Yet Grateful
Timestamp: 00:02:37
Context: After receiving the award, Venkat reflects on feeling unworthy compared to other Java luminaries, many of whom he believes have made more significant contributions. Venkat shares his emotional response to the unexpected honor from Shar. Venkat values diverse community efforts like coding, blogging, and event organization, which underscores his gratitude despite his self-perceived inadequacy.
Quote: “I don’t think I was expecting or even feel that I was deserving of it. So I’m very grateful. I don’t think I consider myself as worthy of being recognized compared to the giants I mentioned in the industry today. So I’m very grateful and it was an interesting moment.”

Contributions to User Groups and Conferences

Unsung Heroes of User Groups
Timestamp: 00:07:44
Context: Venkat passionately praises Java User Group (JUG) leaders as the backbone of the Java community, recognizing their tireless, often thankless efforts in organizing monthly meetings for years. He details their work in securing speakers, arranging venues, providing food, cleaning up, and more — all done voluntarily to foster learning and networking and community building. These leaders, often unknown beyond their local communities, embody true service and significantly contribute to Java’s vibrant ecosystem.
Quote: “These are to me, the unsung heroes of our field. These are the user group leaders. Most people wouldn’t know their names outside of their local community, but these are the people doing hard work every single day. Imagine the effort it takes to organize a user group meeting month after month after month, having a speaker come over, having the attendees show up, having the food for them available, having the facility to clean up after the meeting is over.”

Giving Back Through User Groups
Timestamp: 00:17:47
Context: Venkat shares how a scheduling mistake 25 years ago at a Houston Java user group gave him his first speaking opportunity, a pivotal moment that launched his community engagement. Grateful for this serendipitous break, he commits to speaking at around 30 user groups annually, as listed on his website (agiledeveloper.com). He views it as a way to repay the community that elevated his career.
Quote: “This is one of the reasons, in all honesty, 25 years later that I speak in approximately 30 or more user groups every single year. If you go to my website, agiledeveloper.com, and you look in the events section, you will see the number of user groups I talk to every single year because that’s, to me, a way to give back to the user groups because that’s what I started.”

Conferences and Broad Reach
Timestamp: 00:18:25
Context: Venkat attributes part of his recognition to his extensive speaking at approximately 45 conferences yearly, reaching diverse audiences from aspiring developers to seasoned experts. His talks cover deep technical details, career advice, and Java innovations — all of which creates creating a broad “surface area” of impact. This prolific engagement, driven by his enthusiasm, likely contributed to his award, connecting him with developers worldwide.
Quote: “I speak in roughly about, I don’t even count, but I’m going to say maybe 45 or more conferences a year. So I think that’s part of the reason for the recognition is the amount of… the surface area that I can touch. I can touch the surface area of young developers, aspiring programmers, seasoned professionals, all the way to experts with my interaction in the industry by way of conferences, user groups, university, consulting, writing books.”

Everyone Needs a Break
Timestamp: 00:14:00
Context: Venkat recalls a defining moment 25 years ago when a calendar error by a Houston Java user group organizer allowed him to speak on a non-teaching night. This led to an invitation to the No Fluff, Just Stuff conference, connecting him with industry giants like Jason Hunter and James Duncan Davidson, marking a turning point in his career through serendipity.
Quote: “Everybody needs a break. If you don’t get a break, you could have the potential, but you need that first break, right? It’s like the actors who always tell you, well, I was in acting school and I was interested in acting, but here’s where I got a first break. Well, I got my first break in the Java User Group.”

Teaching and Sharing Knowledge

Teaching as Learning
Timestamp: 00:39:16
Context: Near the end of the interview, Venkat articulates his teaching philosophy, emphasizing its reciprocal nature. As a part-time professor for 34 years, he views himself as the “first student” in his classes, learning from student questions and interactions. This approach fuels his growth and reinforces his commitment to sharing practical knowledge with students, helping them navigate their careers.
Quote: “I teach because I learn. And I always say I’m the first student in my classes. So collaborate, bring other developers because you end up learning by doing [more] so than being in isolation in solving your problems.”

Sharing Excitement
Timestamp: 00:03:16
Context: Early in the discussion, Venkat explains his shift in focus from seeking recognition to prioritizing learning and sharing knowledge. He describes how, in his late twenties, he realized that true reward lies in daily learning and helping others grow, a mindset that drives his prolific contributions to the Java community through technical talks, writing books, and teaching students and professional developers.
Quote: “If our mind is focused on learning, and then sharing what we learn, then we are not focused on where we get the recognition from. The reward is when I wake up in the morning and feel like I have learned something more than I did the day before. And then I go to bed knowing that maybe I helped somebody else along the way to learn something more than they did.”

Venkat’s Company and Solo Path
Timestamp: 00:10:06
Context: Venkat shares his transformative decision to leave his day job and, after four years, fire himself from his own company. He realized that he was a technologist at heart, not a business person. This shift allowed him to focus on learning, tinkering with technologies, and sharing insights through talks and books — all of which aligned with his true passion.
Quote: “I quit working in a day job several decades ago and I started my own company and only to realize after about four or five years running my company to realize that I’m not a business person. I’m a technologist, and I realized that what I truly enjoy is learning about stuff, tinkering with technologies, trying to come up with reasons about why things work and how they should be implemented, and then to turn around and be able to share that and coach people doing it.”

Long-Term Teaching Commitment
Timestamp: 00:13:08
Context: Venkat discusses his 34-year tenure as a part-time university professor, emphasizing that his goal isn’t academic status but instead sharing practical knowledge in the industry. By teaching evenings, he bridges his professional experiences with academia, helping students learn career approaches and professional skills, contributing to their development as future Java developers.
Quote: “I’m into my 34th year of teaching at the university. All these 34 years, part-time, I moonlight. I’ve never been [on the] tenured track or in a position to be tenured. I don’t want to be tenured. My goal is not to be a professor. My goal is to teach students about things they can learn, how to learn, how to approach their careers.”

Venkat’s Book Motivation
Timestamp: 00:11:58
Context: Venkat explains his motivation for writing books like Cruising Along with Java recently. He was initially hesitant but driven by a desire to share stories about technology nuances. Unlike writing for business promotion, he finds excitement in conveying discoveries about languages or design methods, using books and conferences as platforms to educate and inspire developers.
Quote: “The one reason to write a book is to maybe promote yourself and promote your business. But to me, a bigger reason to write a book is I’ve got a story to tell. And that’s what excites me about writing books. Almost every book I’ve written since then, I started writing the book because I have a story to tell. I discover a nuance in a language or in a library or in a method of designing, and I want to speak that.”

Knowledge Grows When Given
Timestamp: 00:38:08
Context: While offering advice, Venkat emphasizes that sharing knowledge benefits both the giver and the receiver. He describes how teaching prompts self-reflection and leads to new questions, often leading him to take notes during conversations to explore topics further. This reinforces his belief that knowledge, unlike money, grows through sharing, enriching all parties involved.
Quote: “I often say that knowledge is a wealth that grows when it’s given. You know, if I give you $10, I’m poorer by $10. But if I share with you a little bit of what I know, I never give you what I know because as I’m talking to you, I’m going to start thinking, do I understand this really well? Or you are asking a question and that immediately triggers in my mind, oh my gosh, I need to really go in and look at that a little bit more because that’s a question I haven’t thought through much.”

Java Evolution and Features

Java 25 Excitements
Timestamp: 00:20:20
Context: When asked about Java 25, set for release in September 2025, Venkat expresses enthusiasm for features like structured concurrency, scoped values, pattern matching, and the instance main method. He is particularly excited about structured concurrency’s foundation on virtual threads for solving divide-and-conquer problems, pattern matching’s evolving syntax for expressive coding, and the instance main method’s role in simplifying Java for newcomers.
Quote: “There are actually a few things that are new and maybe even evolving that I’m truly excited about. There are several features, and I don’t want to lessen any one of them by mentioning a few. But I think one of the things I’ve been keeping my eyes on very closely as it’s going through the development is the structured concurrency and scoped values. The pattern matching syntax as it’s been evolving, I think it’s very interesting to see the instance of, for the primitive types, I think that’s pretty exciting, very useful as well. The other thing that I’m keeping my eyes on pretty nicely evolving is the compact source files and instance main method.”

Structured Concurrency and Virtual Threads
Timestamp: 00:20:39
Context: Venkat elaborates on his excitement for Java 25’s structured concurrency, a feature built on virtual threads introduced in earlier releases. He explains that this feature addresses complex divide-and-conquer problems, making it a significant advancement for experienced developers writing production code. His enthusiasm stems from closely following its development, seeing it as a powerful tool to enhance Java’s concurrency capabilities for robust, scalable applications.
Quote: “Structured concurrency is in a way built on top of virtual threads, which is another exciting feature for me. But structured concurrency is solving a set of problems that are very exciting to solve, divide and conquer problems and so on. So I’ve been keeping an eye on that quite a bit.”

Incremental Changes and 6-Month Cycle
Timestamp: 00:29:02
Context: Venkat praises Java’s six-month release cycle for its agile, incremental approach, allowing developers to benefit from features like pattern matching as they evolve. He contrasts this with long waits for major releases, noting that incremental updates enable faster adoption and adaptation, aligning with agile development principles and benefiting programmers.
Quote: “You are able to come back and keep adding more capabilities to it is much better than saying you wait for eight years to get everything versus you can get them incrementally every six months. I think that’s more beneficial to developers. I feel that’s more agile in a lot of ways as well. So that’s what I mean by evolutionary is you can reap the benefits along the way rather than having to wait a long time to get them all.”

Evolving for Next Generation
Timestamp: 00:21:56
Context: Discussing Java 25’s instance main method, Venkat explains its significance in simplifying the onboarding process for new developers. He contrasts the complexity faced by early Java adopters from C and C++ backgrounds with today’s newcomers, who find Java’s initial learning curve daunting, making features like instance main crucial for accessibility.
Quote: “The instance main method is something I’m really, really super excited about. I’ve been a critique of this for years earlier, that when you start getting introduced to Java, it’s like being hit by a bus. You have to learn about so many things that you don’t need to know right now just to even start with the hello world. I think that main method feature is something I really truly respect as well.”

Pattern Matching Evolution
Timestamp: 00:27:06
Context: Venkat uses an analogy to Captain America to describe the incremental evolution of Java’s pattern matching syntax, from a simple switch statement to a robust feature. He recalls a conversation with Brian Goetz, Java Language Architect at Oracle, who outlined delivering pattern matching in “three installments,” a process that has extended but exemplifies Java’s thoughtful, iterative development.
Quote: “This purely little switch statement, look at how it turned into this powerful pattern matching syntax. So I relate the pattern matching syntax to Captain America’s evolution. I wrote the book recently called Cruising Along with Java. And as you can see that I get excited, I talk about, I’m a person of analogies. So when I started talking about pattern matching in the book, I gave the example of Steve Rogers, who was this puny little guy who didn’t have much strength, failed being in an army. And then they treat him with the serum. And then he turns into this powerful Captain America.”

Advice for Developers

Advice for Students
Timestamp: 00:33:50
Context: Offering advice to students, Venkat stresses the importance of reaching out to mentors and engaging in face-to-face conversations, urging students to keep cameras on during virtual meetings for richer interactions. He shares how he provides Zoom links to students, encouraging them to ask beyond technical questions to learn about careers and conferences, accelerating their growth.
Quote: “If you’re a student, the first thing I would say is reach out to people. Reach out to people and have conversations with them. I can’t tell you how many times I tell my students, here’s my Zoom link. I tell them, here’s a link. You click on it. I pop in like a genie and I’m going to talk to you. Make use of that, I tell my students all the time. The other thing I actually sincerely say that is keep your cameras on. The conversation is very different when you’re able to see the other person.”

Advice for Senior Developers
Timestamp: 00:37:18
Context: Addressing senior developers, Venkat encourages collaboration with junior developers, especially in the context of using AI tools. He sees this as a mutual learning opportunity, where seniors impart critical thinking and fundamentals, while juniors introduce new tools and techniques, fostering a collaborative environment that benefits both parties in today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape.
Quote: “This is an opportunity for you, the senior developer, to engage the junior developers into more collaborative development. And by doing so, I always say it’s got to be a benefit for everybody, otherwise we’re not going to do it. So the young developers begin to learn that proper thinking and critical thinking is important. They’re going to be able to learn that from you, the senior developer. But as a senior developer, you also quickly begin to learn that there are tools and techniques you’re not aware of, but these young developers are able to drag them in because they’re so quick in looking at different things.”

AI as a Tool
Timestamp: 00:36:35
Context: Discussing the role of AI in development, Venkat cautions that while AI is a powerful tool, it cannot replace strong fundamentals. He uses an analogy of misusing a lawnmower to highlight the need for careful application, urging senior developers to guide juniors in balancing AI’s capabilities with critical thinking and foundational knowledge.
Quote: “AI is a powerful tool, but we gotta be careful using it. When you have young developers on your team who feel like they can do anything they want because they have these tools, what they don’t understand is that’s not a substitute for having good fundamentals. This is an opportunity for you, the senior developer, to engage the junior developers into more collaborative development.”