JavaMUG 2024

Third stop on the US South JUG Tour 2024 with Jakarta EE was Dallas and JavaMUG. This time I had chosen a hotel within walking distance from the venue. At least for a Norwegian. I am not so sure if 30 min walk is considered walking distance in Texas, but you never know so I decided walking. The distance is certainly not a problem, but it turned out that there were no sidewalks so I ended out walking partly in the street and partly on the grass next to it. Going back to the hotel after the event, I ended up getting an Uber.

At the JavaMUG event, I did the talk where I go through everything new in Jakarta EE 11 to show how you can boost your performance and developer productivity with this release. I even added a couple of the AI demos from the previous two days as well.

The crowd at the JavaMUG event was very friendly, asked a lot of good questions, and showed great interest in participating in Open Source. The venue is great, pizza delicious, and I would definitely come back later should I get the opportunity.

If you are a Java developer in the Dallas area, I strongly suggest to check out the events at JavaMUG. They meet monthly on the second Wednesday of the month, and features an amazing lineup of speakers. This is the place to be if you want to increase your network and create a solid foundation for your career.

JaxJUG 2024

The second stop of the US South JUG Tour 2024 with Jakarta EE was Jacksonville Java User Group, or JaxJUG, for short. This time, I was very careful making sure that the address I gave to the Uber was the correct one and made it to the venue 10 minutes before the pizza arrived. Perfect timing!

I did the same Jakarta EE meets AI presentation here, and it was received equally well. I think I am on to something with this talk. It is very simple, and the demo has a nice progression making it easy to follow.

I was not the only speaker at this event. Ed Burns from Microsoft drove up from Orlando to give a talk as well. At the end of his presentation, he gave a pre-announcement of the General Availability of Java experiences on Azure Container Apps. Check it out, and see how easy it is to run your Java workloads in a cloud environment. It pays out to be attending JUG events. Sometimes you get the announcements before the general public. Join your local JUG, and if you really want to enhance your career, get engaged and help out organizing events!

Triangle JUG 2024

I had the great pleasue of speaking at Triangle Java User Group yesterday. It was the first time I did this presentation titled Jakarta EE meets AI. It is a very demo heavy presentation, so lots of things can go wrong, but the demo gods were with me this time. Every demo worked just as intended!

The event was located at the Wake Technical Community College between Raleigh and Durham. I discovered on in the Uber on the way to the event that there are multiple locations called Wake Technical College in the area and I was headed to the wrong one. Luckily, I was able to redirect the ride and arrive in time to start the presentation as scheduled.

The folks at the Triangle java User Group is a friendly bunch, and I strongly recommend that you attend their events if you are located in the area. They are also, as almost every Java User Group in the World, looking for volunteers to help with the events. This is an excellent opportunity to expand your network and create a solid foundation for your future career!

Hashtag Jakarta EE #245

Welcome to issue number two hundred and forty-five of Hashtag Jakarta EE!

I have some good news regarding the progress of refactoring the Jakarta EE 11 Platform TCK. According to the team, they are now about 50% done and is starting to see the finishing line with more confidence. I hope that I will be able to share a release date for Jakarta EE 11 soon.

While waiting for that to happen, make sure to submit your talk to JakartaOne Livestream 2024. The CFP will close on September 15. JakartaOne LiveStream is a one-day online conference on December 3, 2024.

Another deadline that is approaching is the early bird discount for Open Community for Java which ends on September 23. The conference is a three-day conference in Mainz from October 22 to October 24 this year.

I missed out on JavaZone this year. From the reports I get, it was just as awesome as usual. I really hope to be back there next year. Luckily, it won’t be long before I am back on the conference circuit. Already next week, I am m touring the Southern part of the US with stops at four different Java User Groups. I hope to see you there! For more upcoming conferences, check out my page on the Jakarta EE website.

US South JUG Tour 2024

Next week, I am going overseas on tour with Jakarta EE. I will visit a handful of Java User Groups in the South of the USA. The tour schedule looks like this:

September 9 – 6:00 PM – TriJUG – Durham, NC – Details and registration
September 10 – 6:00 PM – JaxJUG – Jacksonville, FL – Details and registration

September 11 – 6:30 PM – JavaMUG – Dallas, TX – Details and registration
September 12 – 6:30 PM – Gateway JUG – St. Louis, MO – Details and registration

If you are in or near these cities, I encourage you to attend these free events and support the local Java community. I certainly hope the talk is enough to convince you to attend. If the topic does not appeal to you, that in itself is no reason to stay at home as the most giving part of these events is the opportunity to socialize with fellow Java developers in the local community.

When the JUG tour is over, I am going further south over the weekend to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico to attend the Jalapeño Unconference. Unconferences are another opportunity to meet and discuss topics at heart with fellow community members. Take a look at The JUnconference Alliance to find an unconference near you. If there aren’t any nearby, start one yourself, or pack the bags and go to one. You won’t regret it!

Hashtag Jakarta EE #244

Welcome to issue number two hundred and forty-four of Hashtag Jakarta EE!

Last week was very productive for the TCK Project. Different options for how to be able to deliver Jakarta EE 11 was discussed. Among those a hybrid approach to require parts of the TCK to be run the old way, and parts of it with the newer technology stack. The current plan of refactoring the entire Jakarta EE 11 TCK still stands.

The Jakarta EE Platform project meets weekly, and have started the initial talks around how to form the Jakarta EE 12 release. Jared Anderson (IBM), will join Ed Burns (Microsoft) as the release coordinator of this release. Join the platform call and the Jakarta EE Platform project mailing list to be a part of these discussions.

The following week, I will be preparing the upcoming Jakarta EE US South JUG Tour with talks at the Java User Groups in Durham, Jacksonville, Dallas, and St. Louis. I look forward to meeting the Java communities in these cities. I will post more information about the tour in the upcoming week.

Hashtag Jakarta EE #243

Welcome to issue number two hundred and forty-three of Hashtag Jakarta EE!

Even if progress is being made with refactoring the Jakarta EE Platform TCK, the effort is in desperate need of more resources to complete the work in a timely matter. If you have any experience with TCK work, your help would be greatly appreciated!

An Interest Group called Jakarta EE Future Directions has been initiated. You can join it by signing up on the group mailing list. The purpose of the group is to gather ideas and input from the industry and community for how to evolve Jakarta EE. Ideas and suggestions coming out of this group will be brought forward to the relevant Jakarta EE project(s) for potential inclusion in future releases.

I am on my way back from the LAOUC Community Tour 2024 stop in Paraguay. This was a soft kickoff for my fall conference season that really starts in September and will go on throughout December. Check out the list of appearances (updated continuously).

LAOUC Community Tour 2024

When I got the opportunity to be a part of the LAOUC Community Tour 2024 with two talks in Paraguay, I immediately accepted. This was my first visit to the country. It is not the first destination that comes to mind, and I had to google what the name of the Capital is (Asuncion).

There are two official languages in Paraguay, Spanish and Guaraní. Since I don’t speak either, if you don’t count my limited Spanish obtained from Duo Lingo, and English is only understood to a certain degree, the organisers set up the English speaking speakers with a translator. Having someone repeating your sentences in a different language during the presentation breaks up the rhythm and takes a while getting used to. Especially when you are told about it a couple of minutes before the talk starts.

The first talk was my migration talk From Spring Boot 2 to Spring Boot 3 with Java 22 and Jakarta EE. I was able to cut som content on the fly since the translation eats up a good percentage of the time.

For my second talk, I was prepared for the translation and reduced the content in advance. This talk was about how to Boost Performance and Developer Productivity with Jakarta EE 11.

The event was the last stop on the LAOUC Community Tour 2024 and was very well organised by the Paraguay Oracle User Group (OUGPY). Here are some photos of the speakers, attendees, and a display of Jakarta EE swag.

I had a great couple of days in Paraguay, and would not hesitate to go back on a later occasion. Of course, I had to pick up som Yerba Mate to bring home.

Hashtag Jakarta EE #242

Welcome to issue number two hundred and forty-two of Hashtag Jakarta EE!

Another short summer update. The update for Jakarta EE 11 is about the same as last week. We are still waiting for an estimated delivery date from the Jakarta EE TCK Project. Follow the GitHub Project board for the progress.

This week, I will join the LAOUC Community Tour 2024 where I have two Jakarta EE talks scheduled. Even if it is only a couple of weeks, it feels like it has been forever since I last was traveling. It will be good to be on the road again to meet our amazing community.

Read my post Join Us at Open Community for Java from last week to learn why you should register for Open Community for Java. Register before September 23 for a discounted price.

Join Us at Open Community for Java

Open Community for Java, a part of OCX 2024, will bring Java enthusiasts, developers, community leaders, and influential thinkers to share insights, challenges, and successes in the Java ecosystem. The event will take place October 22-24 2024 in Mainz, Germany

Open Community for Java is the ultimate gathering for those looking to explore the full spectrum of Java’s capabilities and trends in open source from Jakarta EE, Adoptium, and MicroProfile. Open Community for Java offers a unique platform to engage with industry leaders and innovators. The event will focus on the latest innovations, updates, and developments in Java using open source, vendor-neutral processes and technologies.

It’s the perfect venue to network with fellow developers, learn from the best, and get inspired by cutting-edge solutions shaping the future of open source Java.

Don’t miss the opportunity to learn from some of the most esteemed speakers in our community. Here are some of the standout sessions you can look forward to:

Eclipse Loves Java by Hendrik Ebbers

Developers can choose from multiple OpenJDK distributions and create applications or microservices using frameworks such as Spring Boot, Micronaut, or Quarkus. Despite this diversity, shared standards and specifications remain, managed by the Eclipse Foundation’s working groups. In this session, Hendrik Ebbers, CEO at Open Elements, will explore the Eclipse working groups and projects driving Java forward, helping developers and companies create innovative open source solutions. Learn more

Why Spring Matters to Jakarta EE – and Vice Versa by Ivar Grimstad

Jakarta EE 9’s namespace change from javax to jakarta has significant implications for the entire Java ecosystem, including Spring. This session by Ivar Grimstad from the Eclipse Foundation will explain why Spring developers should care about Jakarta EE updates and how Jakarta EE can benefit from Spring’s innovations. Learn how Spring and Jakarta EE influence each other and how they can collaboratively advance Java technologies. This talk will be particularly insightful for developers looking to leverage both Jakarta EE specifications and Spring Framework advancements. Learn more.

LLangChain4J: Supercharging Jakarta EE Apps with AI by Luqman Saeed

Harness the power of Generative AI to transform your Jakarta EE applications. This session presented by Luqman Saeed (Payara) will introduce LLangChain4J, a Java library that integrates AI into your Java development workflow. Learn how to build smarter, more dynamic applications with AI capabilities like text generation, summarisation, and conversational interfaces. Gain hands-on experience as we demonstrate how LLangChain4J can modernise your Jakarta EE stack, create innovative user experiences, and unlock new possibilities for your applications. Learn more.

Register Now!

Don’t miss out on a full program of technical talks, community activities, and networking opportunities. Register today to secure your spot at the event. For more information, visit java.ocxconf.org and follow @ocxconference on social media.