JavaDays 2024: A Blend of Innovation, Inspiration, and Community
This year’s JavaDays 2024 conference offered a unique mix of technological innovations, inspiring talks, and great networking opportunities. It is the largest Czech event focused on Java developers, programmers, and anyone interested in Java and related technologies. The ninth annual edition took place in mid-November at CineStar Cinema, OC Černý Most, and — as is tradition — it was held in a hybrid format, both in person and online.
Of course, we at Green:Code couldn’t miss such an event! Our representatives from the Kotlin/Java team, Kamil Volf and Petr Kučírek, attended the conference. It was a great opportunity to gain new insights and meet with colleagues from Škoda Auto.
What caught our attention at the event?
1) Opening keynote: Migration to JDK 21 and a look into the future
The conference kicked off with a talk by Jiří Pinkas, who summarized why it’s crucial to keep applications up to date. He emphasized the importance of migration to JDK 21 and prepared the audience for the arrival of JDK 25, expected next year. He also discussed virtual threads and their support in Spring.
2) CDC and Debezium: Technology transforming database management
Jakub Čecháček introduced us to the world of Change Data Capture (CDC) — a technology for capturing changes in a database (supported by the most common relational and non-relational ones) without altering its structure, and transforming them into event streams. Several use cases were presented, showing how CDC enables data synchronization between databases and the implementation of various microservice patterns.
3) Java and OpenTelemetry: Simplifying application monitoring
Kamil Ševeček’s lecture offered a comprehensive overview of the OpenTelemetry standard, which facilitates log and metric collection. The presentation demonstrated how OpenTelemetry simplifies application monitoring and significantly eases the work of developers.
4) Azure OpenAI and Java Client Library: AI in real deployment
This talk by Štěpán Bechovský particularly resonated with us — he showcased tools that we already actively use at Green:Code. He focused on configuring and fine-tuning models in Azure OpenAI to make their use genuinely effective.
5) The economics of startup development: How to plan and stay on course
Roman Bouchner delivered an excellent presentation filled with concrete examples of how to effectively plan and manage projects in startup environments. His lessons on avoiding common mistakes in the early stages were especially valuable.
6) Domain-Driven Design and Spring Modulith: New approaches to architecture design
Jiří Pinkas captivated us again, this time by comparing monolithic structures with microservices and explaining the Modulith concept. His presentation offered a clear overview of modern architectural design options.
7) Clean Code and the future of development with Copilot
Milan Lempera showcased examples of how to maintain clean code even in an era when AI tools like GitHub Copilot are becoming part of the development process. His perspective on the future of software development was both insightful and inspiring.
8) The new digital banking experience
Michal Drbohlav presented the transformation of George Business digital banking at Česká spořitelna. Migration to Kotlin, experience with microservice architecture, and cloud technologies provided valuable insights, especially for understanding how large organizations can implement technological change effectively.
Overall impression
The JavaDays conference enriched us not only technically but also by offering a valuable overview of current trends and statistics. It highlighted that staying up to date with technological advancements — especially in AI and rapidly evolving tool versions — is essential for efficient development. The event effectively reflected the real needs of the developer community.
The only minor drawback was the absence of practical live demonstrations for some of the presented tools, which would have helped to better understand their potential. Nevertheless, we’re already looking forward to next year’s edition!
📸© Photo credit: GOPAS
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