I was experimenting with building a container image for my Spring Boot application (Spring Boot version 3.5.7, Java version 25). And I was wondering which approach would be better: use the Maven plugin with spring-boot:build-image to build the image, or use a custom Dockerfile with jlink.

“Just use records!” they say. “Lombok is evil!” they cry. But is the widespread hatred of Lombok really justified in the era of modern Java? This talk takes an honest look at Lombok’s controversial reputation while making the case for why it still has a place in your Java 22+ projects.

What if you could harness the vast ecosystem of JavaScript libraries directly within your Java applications? This talk explores practical approaches for embedding JavaScript plugins and engines in Java projects, from the retired Nashorn engine, GraalVM’s JavaScript engine to modern solutions like V8 (Node.js) integration. We’ll cover real-world use cases, performance considerations, and security implications. You’ll learn how to bridge the gap between these two powerful ecosystems, opening up new possibilities for extending your Java applications with the rich functionality of JavaScript libraries.

Spring Framework has dominated the Java ecosystem for over two decades, but what makes it so enduringly successful? This talk explores the core design principles that have allowed Spring to evolve, adapt, and thrive through major technological shifts. We’ll dive into principles like Inversion of Control, Convention over Configuration, and the Open-Closed Principle, examining how they’re implemented in Spring and how you can apply these same patterns to make your own projects more maintainable, testable, and future-proof. Whether you’re building microservices, monoliths, or anything in between, these battle-tested principles will help your code stand the test of time.

During COVID-19, I built a platform using Java, AWS DynamoDB to play a popular board game called “Great Western Trail” online with friends.