Happy 30th Birthday, Java!
More code, community, conferences, books, stickers, t-shirts, and coffee!
Java keeps on moving!
Thirty years may seem like a long time, unless you’re a programming language like Java. Java feels younger today than it did fifteen years ago! I’ve been learning Java since 1997. I’m still learning new stuff in Java, and it keeps moving with youthful exuberance and evolving with new features every six months. I went all in with Java twenty-five years ago. I wrote a happy birthday blog for Java’s 25th anniversary, five years ago, and shared my story of using Java. I love when I write stuff down. Then I don’t have to remember or repeat it all. 👇
After two decades of programming in Java, I can honestly say I am just getting started. There are still so many things I would like to accomplish, and the future is looking very bright for this relatively young programming language.
The picture in the blog included an inception-style collection of photos from Oracle CodeOne 2018 to JavaOne 2014 and included four JavaOnes and two JavaDays. Planning is everything.
Classic and newer Java books spanning 30 years
This is the list of books in the picture of my bookshelf up above. I have linked to each book in Amazon below, trying to find the latest edition if available.
- The Java Language Specification
- Concurrent Programming in Java
- Java Concurrency in Practice
- Effective Java
- The Well-Grounded Java Developer
- 97 Things Every Java Programmer Should Know
- Java in a Nutshell
- Java 9 Modularity
- Java 8 Lambdas
- Java SE 8 for the Really Impatient
- Getting to Know IntelliJ IDEA
- Eclipse Collections Categorically
- Rasperry PI with Java
- Head First Java
Full disclosure: I am the author of Eclipse Collections Categorically, and a contributing author to 97 Things Every Java Programmer Should Know.
Thriving, not just surviving
Thank you to all the folks who work on OpenJDK, and the core platform, product, and DevRel teams at Oracle for keeping the lights on, the fires of progress stoked and burning, and the coffee nice and hot!
Thank you to the millions of users, tens of thousands of contributors, and thousands of maintainers of Java open source projects and communities out there. You are the key to so much innovation that millions of Java developers benefit from, and help the Java language continue to evolve.
Thank you to the millions of Java developers quietly just getting stuff done with Java, year over year, and decade after decade in large, medium, small, and single person teams out there. I’ve been there, it’s quiet, and I know you’re out there. It’s nice to know we have a stable programming language that continues to stay relevant and keep our skills current and desirable.
JavaOne 2025
I didn’t post a blog about JavaOne 2025. It was a great conference. Here are some of my pictures from J1. Less text, more pixels. There are YouTube video links where available in the captions.
Looking forward to the next 30 years!
It’s been a crazy fun 30 years watching Java evolve and solve problems. I am thankful I became actively involved in the Java Community Process Executive Committee, Java User Groups, Java Specification Requests, OpenJDK Quality Outreach Program, and several open source Java projects. I’ve also presented at every JavaOne since 2014, and have now been involved in two JavaOne keynotes (2014 and 2025). It was a great honor to be selected as a Java Champion in 2018.
My advice if you’re on the fence about what to do in your career. Get involved. Become part of the amazing Java community.
I know Java and the Java Community will continue to be a part of my future. Thank you for reading, and Happy 30th Birthday, Java!
I am the creator of and committer for the Eclipse Collections OSS project, which is managed at the Eclipse Foundation. Eclipse Collections is open for contributions. I am also the author of the book, Eclipse Collections Categorically: Level up your programming game.
