The Java platform has added many major features over the years – generics, lambdas, modules, virtual threads, and others. Each of these is a bet-the-platform effort, in that a mistake could mean permanent damage. While each feature is unique, such decade-scale evolution projects often have surprising structural similarities. In this keynote, Java Language Architect Brian Goetz offers some insights, war stories, and lessons learned from the development of several major Java features.

Recorded at Devoxx Belgium 2024.