JavaOne 2013 - Starting Off Strong

The past two days have been packed with great sessions, and I believe that this year's JavaOne is going very well so far.  After my initial visit to the Schedule Builder, I knew this conference was going to be good.  I found it nearly impossible to choose which sessions to add to my schedule, and which ones to pass up.  There are so many good sessions to choose from, that I am hard pressed to find a time slot that does not contain at least one session that peaks my interest.  

Each of the sessions that I have attended thus far have been packed with excellent information.  It is clear that JDK 8 is a very hot topic this year.  With many sessions covering new features, such as lambda and Nashorn, JDK 8 is everywhere.  Java EE 7 is also a hot topic at this year's conference.  Sessions covering features such as JSF 2.2, JAX-RS 2.0, JMS 2.0, WebSockets, and more...the benefits of using Java EE 7 are clearly being advertised.  Perhaps some of the most widely discussed buzz around EE 7 is the HTML 5 integration.  It is also nice to see some great PrimeFaces coverage at this year's JavaOne.

NetBeans is also getting a lot of coverage this year.  I have attended sessions covering EE 7 tips and tricks with NetBeans, Project Easel, and several sessions on Java EE that demonstrated how powerful the NetBeans and GlassFish combination can be.  I enjoyed the demos of NetBeans and Project Easel being used to develop apps that scale nicely on mobile devices...complete with live debugging on an iOS device.

JavaFX is looking excellent, and the FX team is doing a great job of showing off it's power.  There are many sessions on JavaFX 8, and some great coverage of FX on Raspberry Pi.  HTML5, CSS, MultiTouch...there are countless sessions demonstrating the use of JavaFX with various technologies.

Overall, the most important part of the conference is the community.  The community is stronger than ever this year.  I've met up with so many great faces in Java over the past couple of days.  The Taylor Street cafe is a great place to meet up, and the GlassFish party at the Thirsty Bear was excellent...thanks to the GlassFish team!  The Exhibition Hall and OTN Lounge are always packed...lots of great demos and discussions.

I have the next three days packed solid of excellent Java content...looking forward to many more great sessions!  Java and the community are strong, and it is a great time to be a Java developer.

Keep up with the latest by visiting OTN at oracle.com/technetwork/java