Attending Java conferences is an effective way to be updated with Java technologies. It’s also one of the best ways to create networking, get to know other Java developers, and make friends. Also, we get inspired to create new projects and use the latest technologies we learned at the conference to solve day-to-day problems at work.
Another good move to upgrade your career is to start giving talks at conferences because by doing that, you will gain strong visibility from companies and get the best jobs.
Giving talks on Java and building up your reputation is a great way to become a Java Champion.
Let’s see some conferences that are worth submitting a talk and visiting.
Best In-person Java Conferences
Attending conferences in person is a great way to create meaningful connections, talk to like-minded developers, and possibly join a new company. Let’s now explore the best Java conferences we have nowadays.
Devoxx
Devoxx is a series of conferences run by developers for developers across Europe, including Belgium, France, Poland, and the UK. It’s known for deep-dive technical sessions and hands-on labs.
The Devoxx Belgium conference is considered the best conference of all the others because it’s the biggest one. One other reason is that very often, the father of Java, James Gosling, visits Devoxx Belgium. Devoxx Belgium usually happens in October.
You can also watch all the Devoxx talks for free on YouTube here.
I gave a talk at Devoxx Belgium about the Java Challengers in 2022. You can watch the Java Challengers talk here.
Devoxx is an event that happens in many countries, let’s see all of the events we currently have:
- Devoxx France (Paris) – 17th to 19th of April.
- Devoxx Greece (Athens) – 18th to 20th of April
- Devoxx UK (London) – 8th to 10th of May
- Devoxx Morocco (Agadir) – 2nd to 4th of October – I also gave a talk there in 2022 about career for Java developers
- Devoxx Poland (Krakow) – 19th to 21st of June
Jfokus – 5-7 Feb in Stockholm
Held in Stockholm, Sweden, Jfokus is one of Scandinavia’s largest developer conferences. It focuses on Java and related technologies.
The Developer Conference (TDC)
This is a well-known conference event in Brazil that gathers professionals from the IT industry to discuss various topics such as Java, .NET, PHP, Data Science, and more. It offers a combination of presentations, workshops, and networking opportunities. The Developer Conference is the biggest technology conference in South America.
The TDC events are currently held in the following states of Brazil:
- Sao Paulo Summit – 26 and 27 of March
- Sao Paulo TDC – 18 to 20 of September
- Florianopolis – 12 to 14 of June
- Recife – 18 to 19 of April
- Brasilia – to be defined
- Porto Alegre – to be defined
TDC also aims to expand to the following South American countries: Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico.
Dev2Next – Sept 30 — Oct 3 in Colorado
Dev2next is spearheaded by Venkat Subramaniam, President of Agile Developer, Inc., with support from the community. The program committee is an independent entity comprised of worldwide experts from the industry to evaluate and select speakers based solely on technical merit.
Spring I/O – 30-31 MAY in Barcelona
This conference focuses on the Spring framework, a dominant framework used in Java applications. It includes sessions on reactive programming, microservices, cloud-native development, and more.
QCon – April 8th to 10th in London
QCon is held in various cities worldwide and is designed for technical team leads, architects, engineering directors, and project managers who influence innovation in their teams.
JavaZone – 6-7 September in Oslo
This large, independent, community-driven conference covers a wide array of Java topics and is held in Oslo, Norway.
GeeCON – 15 – 17 May in Kraków
This conference, held in Poland and the Czech Republic focuses on Java and JVM-based technologies, dynamic languages, enterprise architectures, patterns, distributed computing, and more.
DevNexus – Apr 9-11 in Atlanta
As the largest Java platform conference in the USA and one of the leading technology events held annually around the globe, DevNexus brings together developers worldwide to explore new technologies, learn from industry experts, and get hands-on experience.
Voxxed Days
These are a series of localized events focusing on Java and related technologies. They are organized by the teams behind Devoxx and offer a similar experience on a smaller scale.
Let’s see the countries we currently have Voxxed Days:
Voxxed Days Bucharest – 27th to 29th of March
Voxxed Days Brussels – 21st & 22nd May
Voxxed Days Ioannina – 23rd of February
Voxxed Days Zurich – 7th of March
Voxxed Days Luxembourg – 20th and 21st of June
JVM-Con – 01 to 05 July in Nürnberg
Located in Cologne, Germany, this conference is about the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and includes talks on languages like Scala, Kotlin, Groovy, and Java.
JavaLand – April 9 to 11 in Nürburgring
JavaLand is held in Germany and provides many sessions and workshops on Java technologies, software architecture, and more.
EclipseCon – 01 Jul – 31 Oct
Targeting the Eclipse community, this conference is excellent for those working with Eclipse IDE or interested in Eclipse projects and technologies.
Java Day Instanbul – 11th of March
Java Day Istanbul is an annual conference in Turkey where experts and enthusiasts discuss Java technologies, trends, and development practices. It features keynotes, technical sessions, and workshops on Java and related technologies.
DevBCN – 13th – 14th of June in Barcelona
DevBCN, also known as Developer Week Barcelona, is an annual tech conference that features keynotes, talks, and workshops on software development and industry trends. It serves as a networking and learning platform for developers and IT professionals.
JNation – 4th to 5th of June in Coimbra
JNation is an inclusive developer conference centered around Java and related technologies. It features insightful keynotes, technical sessions, and networking opportunities for the Java community in Portugal.
JAX – September 30 ‒ October 3 in London or Online
JAX is a series of conferences in Germany and London focused on Java, architecture, and software innovation.
JPRIME – 28-29th of May in Sofia
JPrime is a Java and JVM-based technology conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, offering keynotes, workshops, and talks for developers. The event provides networking opportunities and covers the latest trends and best practices in the Java ecosystem. One of the organizers from JPrime is my fellow Java Champion friend Dmitry Alexandrov.
JDD – 22nd and 23th of October in Krakow
JDD (Java Developers Day) is a conference aimed at Java professionals. It is usually held in Poland and features a blend of expert talks, practical workshops, and networking. The event focuses on the latest Java technology trends, programming techniques, and industry best practices.
BASELONE – 16th and 17th of October in Basel
The Java User Group Switzerland and Canoo Engineering AG initially hosted JavaOne-inspired evening events, leading to the creation of JavaBasel, the forerunner to BaselOne. This quickly organized event soon formalized into an association, becoming a two-day conference with an additional workshop day. Despite changes in membership and its name, BaselOne has maintained its founding spirit and continues to thrive.
Oracle Code One (formerly JavaOne)
Oracle Code One is a premier developer conference by Oracle, expanding from JavaOne to encompass a broader range of technologies like databases, cloud, AI, and modern programming languages. It features keynotes, technical sessions, and networking opportunities for software developers. Nowadays, this conference is not part of Oracle’s business strategies, so it’s not as big as before. Last year, there weren’t Oracle Code One or Java One conferences. Hopefully, the conference will be back someday.
KotlinConf – May 22-24 in Copenhagen
Even though Kotlin is not Java xD it’s part of the JVM and it’s gaining a lot of traction and since many Java developers like Kotlin I decided to include it here. This was also the suggestion from Anton Arhipov, which is a Developer Advocate at JetBrains.
KotlinConf, the official conference dedicated to Kotlin, highlighted the latest advancements in the language, including new features, ecosystem developments, and community growth, showcasing its increasing adoption across various platforms.
Best Java Unconferences
An unconference is a type of meeting where the attendees set the agenda at the start of the event. Everyone is invited to propose topics they’re interested in discussing, work together to schedule sessions, and then lead or participate in the talks. It’s a flexible, interactive format focusing on spontaneous and active participation rather than a pre-planned program.
I have already participated in some unconferences, and they’re fun. That’s because all attendees can create their own forum of discussion about a topic, and then we talk about that, get lots of ideas, and learn together from whoever can contribute to the subject. In other words, it’s a conference where everyone can teach and share their knowledge.
JCrete – 22nd-26th July in Crete
JCrete is an unconference held in Crete, known for its open, collaborative discussions on Java and related technologies, where content is participant-driven, and the schedule is created collectively by attendees at the start of the event, encouraging an interactive and flexible learning environment.
JAlba – 15th – 18th of May in Edinburgh
Modeled after JCrete®, JAlba is a Scottish unconference for people interested in Java and related technologies. It’s a place for the Java community to exchange ideas in an informal setting.
Java Unconference
This type of event can be found in various locations and often is organized by local Java User Groups (JUGs). The specific names and details can vary by region and year.
Some unconferences in the alliance have definite dates scheduled for 2024. They are (in date order):
JChateau, Loire Valley, France, 13th-16th March
jOpenSpace, Czechia (Czech language, YT channel), 4th-6th October
Conclusion
Participating in conferences is crucial to staying on the top of the game with software development. There are so many new technologies, concepts, and paradigms emerging that if we are not aware of them, we are missing out.
Attending conferences is a great way to get new insights, meet like-minded developers, and grow your career. Keep in mind the idea of becoming a speaker as well. By doing so, you will take your career to the next level far more quickly. By giving talks, you get a lot of trust from developers, and you might even bypass the annoying interview process that companies do with developers.
Think about it: the interview is just a way to verify whether we are trustworthy enough to do the job. However, if you already create trust by sharing your knowledge, companies will make the interview much easier.
My suggestion to you is to start small and give talks! I wrote an article on how to give a talk, check this out: How to Give Talks as a Software Developer.
If you want further guidance to learn more on how to get started to give talks, take a look at my Challenger Developer course here.
