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WeAreDevelopers LIVE • Sep 14, 2023

Beam Me Up, Java! Unraveling the Warp-Speed Evolution: A Journey through Java LTS Versions 11 to 21

Jonathan Vila

Still stuck on Java 8? Legacy code isn't safe. Upgrade to Java 21 to eliminate security debt and unlock game-changing virtual threads.

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#1 about 8 min

Risks of remaining on legacy Java versions

Production statistics highlight the dangers of missing bug patches and performance gains by staying on Java 8.

#2 about 6 min

Evaluating JDK distributions and vendor support

The shifting landscape of JDK providers requires assessing vendor-specific features and support lifecycles.

#3 about 4 min

Understanding the Java long-term support release cadence

Differing vendor approaches to long-term support dictate how migration planning aligns with updated release cycles.

#4 about 6 min

Productivity improvements and API updates in Java 11

Java 11 introduces a non-blocking HTTP client, single-file source code execution, and native TLS 1.3 support.

#5 about 18 min

Major language and productivity upgrades from Java 12 to 17

Enhancements across intermediate releases deliver helpful null pointer exceptions, text blocks, and record classes for immutability.

#6 about 4 min

Significant performance and language features launching in Java 21

Sequenced collections, virtual threads, and advanced switch pattern matching elevate performance and simplify expressive code logic.

#7 about 3 min

Strategic takeaways for continuous Java version migration

Consistently moving between long-term support versions ensures critical access to performance improvements and ongoing security patches.

#8 about 4 min

Finding career value in active developer communities

Active participation in tech communities accelerates learning curves and opens up valuable new professional engineering opportunities.

#9 about 4 min

The future of Java in modern web development

Assessing tools like Vaadin helps determine the feasibility of full-stack Java applications over complete JavaScript transitions.

#10 about 3 min

Addressing verbosity and missing features in modern Java

While record classes reduce boilerplate, the language could further benefit from implicit classes to streamline syntax.

#11 about 3 min

Overcoming cognitive friction when changing programming languages

Migrating to a different programming language requires consciously adapting to new syntax conventions and structural patterns.

#12 about 2 min

Virtual threads as the ultimate concurrency performance upgrade

Virtual threads solve traditional concurrency limitations by enabling millions of simultaneous operations without exhausting system resources.

Matching moments

2:03 min

Migrating applications from Java 11 to Java 17

Daniel Strmečki · LIVE

2:27 min

Summarizing the path forward for Java evolution

Michael Inden · LIVE

10:10 min

Java 16 and 17 release cadence and migration strategies

Mohamed Taman · LIVE

1:47 min

Reviewing modern Java features from version 12 to 17

Ron Veen Ron Veen · World Congress 2022

3:37 min

Choosing Java 17 for modern Spring Boot applications

Josh Long · World Congress 2022

4:55 min

Discussing modern Java language evolution and syntax innovations

Daniel Strmečki · LIVE

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September 25, 2026 · 14:50–15:20

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Look What Java Can Do Now: Live-Coding a GenAI MCP Server with the JAQ Stack

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Senior Engineering Leader, Marketing & AdTech, AI GTM & Digital Experience Platforms, Java x AI

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Developer Advocate

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Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 · 16:10–16:40

Outdoor Stage

When Humans Stop Writing Code: Rethinking Languages, Compilers, and Responsibility

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World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 · 11:00–11:30

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From Legacy to Longevity – How a 17-Year-Old System stayed Modern

Alexander Arians

Empowering Engineers to drive innovation

Alexander Arians
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From Cloud Native to Multi-Cloud Native: Write Once, Deploy Anywhere

Sandeep Pal

Principal Member of Technical Staff at Salesforce

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