Java & LanguagesJava & Languages
Conference45min
BEGINNER

Engineering a Modern Java Platform

This session offers a practical guide to upgrading from JDK 8/11 to JDK 21/25, addressing API removals, JPMS issues, and performance changes. It covers tools, migration strategies, and support lifecycles to help teams detect risks, manage technical debt, and modernize Java systems safely for long-term stability.

Steve Poole
Steve PooleHerodevs

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Friday, April 24, 11:35-12:20
TBA 4
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JDK 8 to 25 Without the Pain: Most Java teams carry far more technical debt than they realise. Moving from JDK 8 or 11 to JDK 21 or 25 is not a routine upgrade: it's a leap across more than a decade of platform evolution. Along the way, developers must contend with removed APIs, stronger encapsulation, JPMS boundaries, garbage collector changes, and performance shifts that alter how Java apps are built, packaged, and deployed.

This session shows a practical, experience-driven view of what it really takes to modernise a large Java estate.

Covering what breaks, why it breaks, how to detect problems early, and how to construct a migration strategy that reduces risk to both the platform and the budget.

Topics include:

  • Using JDK tooling such as jdeps, jdeprscan, and runtime flags to uncover hidden technical debt
  • Internal API removals, split-package conflicts, and reflection failures
  • Practical migration strategies for real-world codebases
  • How JPMS impacts legacy applications in practice
  • The current JDK support and LTS landscape
  • Why JDK 25 represents a stable long-term target
If you run production Java systems, this talk provides the map, highlights the hazards, and outlines a safe route forward.
java
migration
technicaldebt
modernization
talks.speakers
Steve Poole

Steve Poole

Herodevs

UK

Developer Advocate, Developer Security Champion, DevOps Lead. A thoroughly seasoned engineer, leader and strategist from operating systems to JVMs to Chat GPT. Open source committer and contributor, Apache, Eclipse, OpenJDK, OpenSSF, OWASP member, Mad Scientist and usergroup leader: A seasoned speaker and regular presenter at international conferences on technical and software engineering topics. Greybeards rule!

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