Java Language & PlatformKeynote20min
The Year of the Runtime
AI coding agents reduce the importance of language syntax, making runtime performance and operability more critical. Java’s JVM and standard library are a strong fit: newer JDKs continually improve speed, observability, garbage collection, and usability without changing the programming model, with major innovations underway in Valhalla, Leyden, and Lilliput.
talk.summaryAiDisclaimer
Ron PresslerOracle
talkDetail.whenAndWhere
Wednesday, October 7, 10:50-11:10
TBA 7
talks.roomOccupancytalks.noOccupancyInfo
AI coding agents are changing how we develop software. Existing evidence suggests that, up to a point, they significantly reduce the importance of the linguistic features of programming languages, and are able to write code equally well in most if not all mainstream languages. But a programming language is much more than syntax. An AI agent can't make Python code as fast as Java code, and it can't make Java code run as well as JavaScript in the browser. In a world where syntax is less important, the runtime gains even more prominence, and Java's runtime is a superb target for code written by, or with the assistance of, AI.
Java's runtime - the JVM and the standard library - has been Java's core strength since Java's inception. Java programs get faster and easier to operate just by upgrading to a newer JDK, thanks to continually improving JIT optimizations, better GCs, better observability, and a better standard library. This is an especially dynamic time for the Java runtime, integrating value classes from Project Valhalla, AOT code compilation from Project Leyden, making compact object headers the default from Project Lilliput, and removing the need to manually set the heap size so that the JVM could automatically optimise the CPU/RAM tradeoff. Each of these involved tremendous change under the hood, but little or no change to the programming model.
Java's runtime - the JVM and the standard library - has been Java's core strength since Java's inception. Java programs get faster and easier to operate just by upgrading to a newer JDK, thanks to continually improving JIT optimizations, better GCs, better observability, and a better standard library. This is an especially dynamic time for the Java runtime, integrating value classes from Project Valhalla, AOT code compilation from Project Leyden, making compact object headers the default from Project Lilliput, and removing the need to manually set the heap size so that the JVM could automatically optimise the CPU/RAM tradeoff. Each of these involved tremendous change under the hood, but little or no change to the programming model.