Life After Java 8

GOTO Amsterdam 2019

Wasn’t Java 8 a fantastic update to the language? Lambdas and streams were a huge change and have helped to improve Java developers’ productivity and introduce some functional ideas to the language.

Then came Java 9… and although the module system is really interesting for certain types of applications, the lack of exciting language features and uncertainty around how painful it might be to migrate to Java 9 left many applications taking a wait-and-see approach, happy with Java 8.

But now Java has a new version every six months, and suddenly Java 12 is here. We’re all still on Java 8, wondering whether we should move to a later version, which one to choose, and how painful it might be to upgrade.

In this session we’ll look at:

• Why upgrade from Java 8, including language features from Java 9, 10, 11 and 12
• What sorts of issues might we run into if we do choose to upgrade
• How the support and license changes that came in with Java 11 might impact us.

What will the audience learn from this talk?
They'll learn the pros and cons of upgrading from Java 8. This includes not only the language features in the latest versions of Java (9, 10, 11 and 12), but some of the performance implications and, most importantly, the license changes and changes to support that might cost the audience money if they don't understand them.

Does it feature code examples and/or live coding?
Yes, both code examples on the slides and a bit of live coding.

Prerequisite attendee experience level:
Level 300
Assumes a working knowledge of Java and builds off that; assumes attendees are interested not only in abstract concepts but how the changes impact them in their day jobs as developers/leads/architects.