Update Your JDK, Read More Code, and Talk to Your Users: Interviews From VoxxedDays Amsterdam (#93)

In this episode of the Foojay Podcast, we're bringing you something special: a full batch of hallway-track conversations recorded live at VoxxedDays Amsterdam.Fifteen guests, one conference, and one theme that kept coming back, whether we planned it or not: Java has grown up quietly, steadily, and in ways that still surprise people who haven't looked lately. We talked about migrating between versions, new features in the latest Java releases, authorization done right, AI-assisted coding, cryptography, containers, open-source contributions, GDPR data experiments, and, yes, the things people hate about Java but secretly love.I spoke with Ko Turk, who organized this very conference, Johannes Bechberger, Lutske de Leeuw, Aicha Laafia, Marit van Dijk, Adele Carpenter, Patrick Baumgartner, Sohan Maheshwar, Jeroen Egelmeers, Erwin Manders, Alexander Shopov, Maarten Verburg, Arjan Tijms, Joost Kaan, and Stephan Janssen.That's a lot of people. That's a lot of opinions. And somehow, they mostly agree: update your JDK, read your code, and please talk to your actual users.Content00:00 Introduction00:30 Ko Turkhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ko-turk-b271b929/Organizer of VoxxedDays AmsterdamMigrating between Java versions02:25 Johannes Bechbergerhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/johannes-bechberger/Java is boring, and that's why it's brilliantJava 26 test it, but not in productionJFR improvements in the latest versions06:28 Lutske de Leeuwhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/lutske/Volunteer at the conferenceJava is boring, and that's why it's brilliantJava 5 till 26 evolutions10:35 Aicha Laafiahttps://www.linkedin.com/in/aicha-laafia-0266a6126/Lambda stream gatherers in Java 25Simpler and more fun codeUpdate your JDK!16:16 Marit van Dijkhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/maritvandijk/Fun in coding, write Java the playful wayJava evolutions and how writing code has evolvedImportance of code reading with AI-assisted coding22:04 Adele Carpenterhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/adele-carpenter-a988623a/The things I hate about Java, but actually love it27:37 Patrick Baumgartnerhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/patbaumgartner/Organizing VoxxedDays ZurichSpring Boot optimizationUsing Buildpacks to create better containers35:02 Sohan Maheshwarhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sohanmaheshwar/Authorization, the good wayJWT is a bad idea38:34 Jeroen Egelmeershttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jegelmeers/https://craftingaiprompts.org/documentation/se-framework/craft-frameworkAI, prompt engineering, agentic programmingThe CRAFT Framework: Orchestrating Agentic FlowThe importance of interacting with your end-users43:32 Erwin Mandershttps://www.linkedin.com/in/erwinman/Cryptography, digital signatures, and securing data and messagesComparing Kotlin and Java45:12 Alexander Shopovhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/alshopov/Developer at UberComparing different languages: Java, Python, GoHow Java is modernizing by learning from other languages49:18 Maarten Verburghttps://www.linkedin.com/in/maartenverburg/Using your own GDPR data for fun experimentsComparing early Java with the current statusJava Streams the most important change52:35 Arjan Tijmshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/arjantijms/https://omnifish.ee/Jakarta Faces, Security, Authentication and Authorization, EE,...Jakarta specs are used in SpringHow Java evolved and is still evolvingHow can you contribute to opensource59:55 Joost Kaanhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/joost-kaan/What you can learn at a conference, besides the expected language-related talksAI influences on the developer workContributing to the Java community, AI user group01:03:52 Stephan Janssenhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanjanssen/https://geniebuilder.ai/The importance of the "Hallway Track" where you can chat with like-minded peopleUsing AI-assisted spec-driven codingTalking to your end-user becomes more important than ever01:09:00 Conclusion