To #Java 24 and Beyond with Billy Korando
For developers who haven’t kept up with Java’s rapid release cycle, Billy Korando, Java Developer Advocate at Oracle, delivers a clear and practical overview of the most important updates from JDK 11 through 24. This talk is a must-watch for anyone modernizing their skills and codebase. Korando walks through language enhancements that make Java more concise and expressive, including text blocks for multi-line strings, sealed hierarchies for controlled class design, and records for dramatically simplifying immutable data classes.
He then explores how these changes improve both code readability and developer productivity. Pattern matching, which began with instanceof, has now evolved into a full-featured tool with switch statements that support null handling and exhaustive checks. Combined with record patterns, developers can now deconstruct complex data structures in a clean, declarative style. Smaller features, like unnamed patterns and variables introduced in JDK 22, further reduce boilerplate by letting developers ignore unused variables—streamlining code even more.
Korando also highlights major performance and concurrency breakthroughs. Virtual threads from Project Loom allow millions of lightweight threads with minimal overhead, reshaping how concurrent apps are built—without requiring code rewrites. He points to runtime improvements like Class Data Sharing (CDS) for faster startup, and Project Leyden, which promises even better startup performance for cloud-native applications. The talk concludes with other powerful updates, including the Foreign Function & Memory API and new Stream Gatherers, showing how Java continues to evolve as a modern, high-performance language.
Watch the Session
🎟️ Watch the full session and join us at Devnexus 2026 for more cutting-edge talks, live demos, and insights from the leaders shaping the future of Java and software development.
