Voxxed Days Cern 2024
Table of contents
Introduction
The conference was conducted in English. A noteworthy point: most talks were around 45 minutes, significantly shorter than those at Devoxx, which can range from 1 hour to 3 hours. This made some presentations feel somewhat rushed.
AI, LLM
Targeting Artificial Intelligence enthusiasts, here’s a start!
Need a primer on LLMs and Generative AI? Check out this link for a quick introduction: Financial Times on Generative AI.
An Application with Prompt
- Video: From Clicks to Conversations: Designing LLM-powered Apps by Marie-Alice Blete
- Comment: This talk dives into the art of “prompt engineering” beyond basic summaries, exploring how to tailor prompts for data extraction. Highly recommended for its practical insights.
Java Meets AI
- Video: Java Meets AI: Building LLM-Powered Applications with LangChain4j by Lize Raes
- Comment: A technical session featuring a live demo on integrating a Java application with a ChatBot using LangChain4j, highlighting the challenges and capabilities of the library.
- Links:
Introduction to Machine Learning
- Video: ML in Java, YES it’s possible! by Mohammed Aboullaite
- Comment: For Java developers eager to explore ML and AI, this is a must-watch. It provides an overview of suitable frameworks for Java.
Vectors
- Video: A Fun Introduction to Vector Databases by Alexander Chatzizacharias
- Comment: After reading the Financial Times introduction on LLMs, you know about vectors importance. This talk addresses the storage and retrieval of vectors - a step away from conventional databases.
RAG
- Video: From RAGs to Riches: Utilizing LLMs in Documentation by Cristian Schuszter
- Comment: This session introduces Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) - a method to customize Large Language Models with specific documents. The breadth of the topic wasn’t fully covered due to time constraints.
Java Deep Dive
Do You Know Java?
- Video: Know Your Java? by Venkat Subramaniam
- Comment: Presented by an excellent speaker, this talk challenges common Java knowledge, focusing on lambda expressions, immutability, and potential pitfalls in everyday code.
Spring Moduliths
- Video: Spring Modulith – Architecturally Curious Developers by Oliver Drotbohm
- Comment: Discusses the balance between microservices and monoliths, introducing the concept of Spring Moduliths as a middle ground.
Test Containers
- Videos:
- The best introduction : Integration tests are needed and simple by Piotr Przybyl Warning : Brillant speaker will convince you of the absolute necessity of Test Containers Slides : “Integration tests are needed and simple”
- To go deeper into this topic : Spring Boot ❤️ Testcontainers by Iván López
- Comment: Piotr Przybyl’s Devoxx Belgium talk (2h45) Testcontainers: needed, simple, powerful By Piotr Przybyl
Serverless Java
- Video: Serverless Java by Adam Bien
- Comment: The speaker presents a compelling case for adopting new paradigms, particularly in the realm of serverless Java.
Domain Model, Refactoring
- Video: Model Mitosis by Julien Topçu & Josian Chevalier
- Comment: A brilliant presentation on modular refactoring of models, addressing the challenge of disentangling complex systems.
Designing an API…
- Video: The Art of Designing a Java API by Mario Fusco
- Comment: A crucial talk for anyone involved in using or building APIs, emphasizing the need for better design practices.
Other Noteworthy Talks
Java is Agile by Venkat Subramaniam
- Video: Java is Agile by Venkat Subramaniam
- Comment: Venkat, a dynamic speaker, delves into the true essence of Agile, contrasting it with traditional waterfall development.
Conway’s Law
- Video: Conway’s Law in Software Development by Julien Topçu
- Comment: This talk explores the profound impact of Conway’s Law on software development and strategies to mitigate it.
A guide to observability for Java apps in Kubernetes
- Video: From k9s to OpenTelemetry: A guide to observability for your apps in K8s by Matthias Haeussler
- Slides: [A guide to observability for Java apps in Kubernetes ](https://speakerdeck.com/maeddes/whats-going-on-in-my-cluster
- Comment: Open Telemetry looks very promising !
Security
- Video: Cross-Site/Cross-Origin Request Forgery: Past, Present, Future by Dr Philippe De Ryck
- Comment: A clear and demo-rich session on security. Key take-away for us : the importance of specifying ‘application/json’ over the default ‘text/plain’ !
JPA (15min)
- Video: Custom Spring Data Projections Beyond JPA by Victor Uria Valle
- Comment: While the topic was promising, the presentation didn’t fully convince me.
Other Talks to Check Out
A collection of additional talks that I didn’t attend but are worth mentioning, presented in no particular order.
- You must watch a talk by Josh at least one time : Bootiful Spring Boot 3 x by Josh Long
- Do you really know JWT? by Karim Pinchon
- Building Lean Spring Boot Applications for the Cloud by Patrick Baumgartner
- Data Oriented Programming in Java 21 by Nicolai Parlog
- Modern web hosting where the web was invented by Alberto Pimpo
- How sand and Java are used to create the world’s most powerful chips by Johan Janssen
- Wired! How your brain learns (new) programming languages by Simone de Gijt
- DOs and DON’Ts of managing numerous very large databases at CERN by Andrzej Nowicki
- Introduction to Ballerina by Mario Del Olmo Diaz
- Java 21 and Beyond: A Roadmap of Innovations by Ana-Maria Mihalceanu If you don’t know about Virtual Threads, project loom and more…
- Principles of Effective Developers by Sebastian Daschner
- A design pattern goes to the supermarket by Kaya Weers
- The Art of Pattern Matching in Java 21 by Alberto Cortina Eduarte 15 mins to make cleaner, better code with Java 21
- Java 21 Unveiled: A Quick Tour of What’s New by Alberto Cortina Eduarte