Duke's Corner

Jim Grisanzio from Oracle Java Developer Relations talks with Cristian Schuszter at JavaOne 2026. Cristian is a PhD in systems engineering and a Tech Lead at CERN in Geneva. He's been at CERN for 8 years, but he's been coding since he was eight years old. He loves working with and contributing to the Java community and other Open Source projects. This was Cristian's first JavaOne, and his session, "30 Years of Java Development: Keeping it All Together," covered how CERN keeps Java running across teams since 1998. Like any large company, CERN uses a lot of legacy code supporting systems that, in Cristian's words, "need to keep running." Java is not only used for business critical applications at CERN but also for accelerator system operations. On working at CERN among Nobel laureates, Cristian said, "I felt like I thrived in this kind of environment." Cristian also helped revive the Voxxed Days developer conference at CERN and started the CERN Java User Group.

Jim Grisanzio from Oracle Java Developer Relations talks with Luiz Real, an engineer and college professor from the SouJava Community in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Luiz came to JavaOne 2026 for the first time this year to build relationships, catch up on the latest technical features in Java, and to mix with the Java Champions. He says building those connections is something you can only do in person at a conference like this. "JavaOne for me is a career changing thing," he says. In this conversation Luiz also talks about teaching Java to students, the opportunities for Java developers in the world of AI, and the massive community of Java developers in Brazil. Luiz Real, Lead Software Engineer, Oracle ACE, College Professor Jim Grisanzio, Oracle Java Developer Relations

Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Trisha Gee, an author, a Java Champion, and a Developer Advocate at Gradle. In February 2025 at Jfokus in Stockholm Trisha received the Java Community Lifetime Achievement honor from Sharat Chander from Oracle Java Developer Relations. Trisha has been a Java developer for 25 years, and since 2011 she's been actively blogging, presenting technical sessions at conferences, and evangelizing Java globally. Recently, Trisha has moved from a traditional developer advocate role to more of a facilitator of developer advocacy internally at her company as well as externally. She works with engineering teams, marketing, teams, and sales teams to ensure the voice of the developer resonates throughout the organization and the community. Trisha is always evolving, she's constantly growing. In this conversation we talk about the JVM, the six month Java release cycle, writing code, the unique features that make Java special as a technology and as a community, Generative AI, design patterns, understanding requirements, asking questions, problem solving, edge cases, documentation, testing, open source, standards, advice for students, and teaching her 9-year old how to code in Java. Trisha is fascinated with the entire development life cycle of software projects and especially the skills developers need now for working with AI. "It feels like a very personal thing from him … he's such a huge powerhouse in the community. Obviously, he cares about the technology, but he understands that the technology isn't enough. It is about individuals stepping up but not just doing stuff for themselves but doing stuff to enable other people, to empower other people. It's the community that makes it a great place to be, and Shar is such a huge champion of that. He makes you feel really appreciated for making the effort to help others and to be involved in the community." — Trisha Gee commenting about receiving the Java Community Lifetime Achievement recognition from Sharat Chander at Oracle. Trisha Gee https://x.com/trisha_gee https://linktr.ee/trisha_gee Duke's Corner Java Podcast https://dukescorner.libsyn.com https://jimgrisanzio.wordpress.com/podcasts/ https://jimgrisanzio.wordpress.com/73-trisha-gee-txt/ Jim Grisanzio https://x.com/jimgris https://jimgrisanzio.wordpress.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimgris/

Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Heinz Kabutz from the Island of Crete in Greece. Heinz has a PhD in Computer Science, publishes the The JavaSpecialists' Newsletter, and runs the JCrete Unconference. Heinz is also a Java Champion and a teacher, and he cares deeply about the technology and the community. Recently, Heinz was recognized for his Lifetime Achievement by Sharat Chander from Oracle Java Developer Relations. "I was on cloud nine! I was so honored," Heinz said. In this conversation Heinz previews some JEPs in the upcoming Java 25 release, he comments on the value of the 6-month Java release cycle, he outlines how he's contributed code to OpenJDK (and how others can too!), he offers some detailed advice to students getting involved in software development for the first time, and he talks at length about the opportunities for developers who participate at the JCrete Unconference. "I have seen people whose entire careers got revolutionized just by coming to JCrete once. It's really life changing!" Heinz Kabutz https://x.com/heinzkabutz https://www.javaspecialists.eu/ https://www.jcrete.org/ https://x.com/heinzkabutz/status/1920855230910005540 OpenJDK https://openjdk.org/ Duke's Corner Java Podcast https://dukescorner.libsyn.com Jim Grisanzio https://x.com/jimgris https://jimgrisanzio.wordpress.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimgris/

Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Francisco Contreras, who is a Java developer and a co-organizer at Nicaragua JUG. Francisco has been a Java developer for over 15 years and he runs his own consulting business with customers around the world. He's passionate about Java the technology and also Java the community. "When I learned Java at university I felt like I could do anything with that," he said, talking about how Java enables him to engage developers, write really great software, and also grow a business. But Java goes well beyond just technology. When Francisco had some personal challenges in his life, he was happy that many community members immediately offered to help him. "The sense of community in the Java environment is just awesome!" Francisco Contreras https://x.com/Frank_JCG https://www.linkedin.com/in/fjcontrerasg https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5OlzVJbnuQc https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rhAe6zqxC34 JUG Nicaragua https://x.com/jugnicaragua Java User Groups https://dev.java/community/jugs/ Duke's Corner https://dukescorner.libsyn.com Jim Grisanzio https://x.com/jimgris https://jimgrisanzio.wordpress.com

The Duke's Corner Java Podcast contributed an 11 minute segment to the Community Keynote at JavaOne 2025 in California in March. Jim Grisanzio from Oracle Java Developer Relations hosted the program with special guests Cay Horstmann, Marit van Dijk, and Lize Raes. The panel covered the latest bits in Java, how to contribute to the community, and the best bits from JavaOne. Everyone had a great time! Here's the full Community Keynote session from JavaOne in March 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwR7Gvi80Xo&t=1838s Here's the 11 minute segment in video: https://x.com/jimgris/status/1907660414550176236

Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with François Martin, a full stack developer from Switzerland who loves teaching Java to students and contributing to the Java community. This conversation ranges from teaching students Java from scratch, the value of test driven development, the lessons from NASA's Apollo project, the benefits — and surprises — of contributing to open source projects, and so much more. Even open source marketing and The Cluetrain Manifesto came up! François is passionate about coding in Java and sharing his experiences with other developers at JUG meetings and conferences. Java was the first language he learned and that seems to made all the difference in the world. François Martin https://x.com/fmartin_ Duke's Corner https://bsky.app/profile/dukescorner.bsky.social https://dukescorner.libsyn.com Jim Grisanzio https://x.com/jimgris

Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Venkat Subramaniam, who is a Java Champion, professor, programmer, and a conference organizer. The conversation ranges from the upcoming JavaOne conference in California in March 2025 to building the Java community, engaging the next generation of Java developers, the importance of going to Java user groups, career building, the evolution of Java technology, agile development, release models, and his upcoming book — Cruising Along with Java. This is a jam packed episode that has something for everyone. Here's quick bit from the interview from Venkat: "One of the biggest contributions Java has made is to truly show to us the developers what agile development really should be!" Venkat Subramaniam https://x.com/venkat_s Jim Grisanzio https://x.com/jimgris Duke's Corner https://bsky.app/profile/dukescorner.bsky.social https://dukescorner.libsyn.com JavaOne 2025 https://javaone.com