JCON Europe 2025 Recap: 30 Years of Java, 10 Years of JCON, and a Global Celebration
JCON Europe 2025 took place from May 12 to 15, marking a milestone event that celebrated 30 years of Java and 10 years of JCON. Developers from over 60 countries gathered in a vibrant and collaborative atmosphere, with Oracle recognizing the JCON team for their dedication to the Java community.
📊 Event Highlights:
🧠 50+ expert sessions and talks
👨💻 8 hands-on workshops
🎥 Live coding on cinema screens
🗣️ Interactive roundtables
🧭 A brand-new Mentoring Hub for deep tech discussions and career growth
If you’re looking to stay up to date with modern Java, here are 5 essential talks from the conference that you shouldn’t miss:
🎉 Happy Birthday, Java! – Sharat Chander
Oracle’s Sharat Chander opened the event with a powerful keynote celebrating three decades of Java innovation. He shared how Java continues to power everything from Mars Rovers to credit cards, and how the Java community, especially Java User Groups and Java Champions, continues to shape its future. He also emphasized Java’s new focus on data and AI readiness.
Watch it here: Happy Birthday, Java! | Sharat Chander (EN)
🔧 All You Need to Know About Maven 4! – Matthias Bünger
After 15 years, Maven is getting a major upgrade. This talk walked through Maven 4’s most important changes, including support for Java 17, improved plugin APIs, better lifecycle phases, and new project formats like YAML and JSON. Matthias also introduced the new Consumer POM model, which improves tool integration without breaking compatibility.
Watch it here: All you need to know about Maven 4! | Matthias Bünger (EN)
⚡ Duke on CRaC with Jakarta EE – Ivar Grimstad & Rustam Mehmandarov
Want faster startup times for your apps? Ivar Grimstad and Rustam Mehmandarov showed how to use CRaC (Coordinated Restore at Checkpoint) with Jakarta EE to reduce startup time. Using a live demo, he explained how to manage resources safely during snapshots, and how Jakarta EE’s lifecycle events make integration easier and cleaner.
Watch it here: Duke on CRaC with Jakarta EE | Ivar Grimstad & Rustam Mehmandarov (EN)
Java Next - From Amber to Loom, from Panama to Valhalla | Nicolai Parlog
Nicolai gave a deep dive into Java’s four big projects:
Amber: more expressive language features
Panama: seamless native code integration
Loom: hassle-free structured concurrency
Valhalla: new value types for performance & type system improvements
Watch it here: Java Next - From Amber to Loom, from Panama to Valhalla | Nicolai Parlog (EN)
Value Objects - The Next Big Thing in Java | Falk Sippach
Java’s static, strong type system is powerful, but its split between primitive and reference types has long been a challenge. Falk explained how Project Valhalla is introducing Value Objects, immutable, performant, and expressive data types that combine the best of both worlds. This shift promises better memory efficiency, readability, and support for modern paradigms like generics and pattern matching.
Watch it here: Value Objects - The Next Big Thing in Java | Falk Sippach (EN)
📌 More Sessions Worth Watching
Not all recordings are out yet, but here are some more talks that deserve a spot on your watchlist:
Stream Gatherers – Karl Heinz Marbaise
Modern Java — Ask Me Anything – Nicolai Parlog & Ana Maria Mihalceanu
Virtual Threads, Structured Concurrency, Extent Locals: When to Use Them, and How – Cay Horstmann
📺 Want More?
These are just a few of the many great talks at JCON Europe 2025. You can watch the full sessions, on the JAVAPRO YouTube Channel.
💬 Have you watched another session that you really liked? Please share it in the comments!