About us
The London Java Community (LJC) is a group of Java Enthusiasts who are interested in benefiting from shared knowledge in the industry. Through our forum and regular meetings you can keep in touch with the latest industry developments, learn new Java (& other JVM) technologies, meet other developers, discuss technical/non technical issues and network further throughout the Java Community.
FAQ
What is the LJC?
What goes on in the LJC?
Who can join?
Is there a fee to Join, is there a fee for the events?
How do I join?
Do you have to go to every presentation?
Where are the events held?
Can I read some member feedback?
Can I give a presentation to the LJC?
What is the LJC?
The LJC is an official Java User Group for developers based in London. It was founded in November 2007 and since then has grown to over 5000 members and is now the biggest Java User Group in the UK.
What goes on in the LJC?
We run a variety of regular events ranging from social events and technical presentations to our full day unconference. On top of the events we run prize draws and have an active mailing list/forum. We support the Graduate Development Community in London and promote London based Open Source Software projects where possible.
Who can join?
Membership is restricted to Java developers working in or around London (or those hoping to train in Java, or relocate to London). Membership will not be granted to those involved in the recruitment industry.
Is there a fee to Join, is there a fee for the events?
It’s completely free to join and 99% of our events are completely free. The only event which is charged for is the Unconference, the charge is minimal and it is there to cover refreshments on the day.
How do I join?
Just click on the link on this page to sign up to the mailing list, you'll hear of all of our latest news and events and can take part in the monthly prize draws.
Do you have to go to every presentation?
Absolutely not – it’s completely up to you which events you attend and which you don’t. Every event attracts a different crowd.
Where are the events held?
Europe's Premier technical training company, Skills Matter (Barbican) sponsor most of our events by providing the venue.
Can I read some member feedback?
We have been collecting feedback for the last few years from our members you can read it here: https://www.meetup.com/Londonjavacommunity/about/comments/?op=all
Can I give a presentation to the LJC?
We run various in-person and online events, and welcome highly experienced speakers, all the way through to those just starting out. If you have a presentation you'd like to submit for consideration, please visit https://sessionize.com/ljc
For further information see our blog here: https://londonjavacommunity.wordpress.com/s... Do not hesitate to get in touch with any questions.
Barry Cranford
Founder of London Java Community
Upcoming events
2
LJC Meet-up at Tessl - Spring AI to AI-Native Java Architectures
Tessl AI Limited, 210 Pentonville Rd London N1 9JY United Kingdom, London, GBPlease register on Eventbrite to join this event.
About this event
vJUG Connect is teaming up with the London Java Community for an evening all about AI and modern Java.
This hybrid event covers the full spectrum, from practical Spring-based AI integration to the architectural principles behind AI-native applications. Learn how Java developers are moving beyond “AI as a feature” and towards systems where intelligence is built in from day one.Location:
Virtual: Join us on YouTube
Venue: Tessl AI Limited - 210 Pentonville Rd, London N1 9JY, United KingdomAgenda:
- 6:00pm – Doors open
(live stream begins on YouTube with vJUG)
- 6:45pm - Kick off and message from our partners
- Session 1: Bootiful Spring AI with Josh Long
- Session 2: AI Native Architecture for Java Applications with Pratik Patel
(live stream ends)
- 8pm – Networking
- 9pm – Wrap-up
Talk 1: Bootiful Spring AI with Josh Long
The age of artificial intelligence (because the search for regular intelligence hasn't gone well..) is nearly at hand, and it's everywhere! But is it in your application? It should be. AI is about integration, and here the Java and Spring communities come second to nobody. In this talk, we'll demystify the concepts of modern day Artificial Intelligence and look at its integration with the white hot new Spring AI project, a framework that builds on the richness of Spring Boot to extend them to the wide world of AI engineering.Jodh Long, Spring Developer Advocate at Broadcom
Josh (@starbuxman) has been the first Spring Developer Advocate since 2010. Josh is a Java Champion, author of 7 books (including "Reactive Spring") and numerous best-selling video training (including "Building Microservices with Spring Boot Livelessons" with Spring Boot co-founder Phil Webb), and an open-source contributor (Spring Boot, Spring Integration, Axon, Spring Cloud, Activiti, Vaadin, etc), a Youtuber (Coffee + Software with Josh Long as well as my Spring Tips series ), and a podcaster ("A Bootiful Podcast").
Talk 2: AI Native Architecture for Java Applications
We are currently moving from "AI-enabled" systems, where artificial intelligence is an additive feature, to "AI-native" systems, where intelligence is the foundational, architectural core. An AI-native application is not merely a traditional application with a machine learning model bolted on; it is an entirely new class of software designed from the ground up to learn, adapt, and act autonomously. These systems are architected around continuous data ingestion, real-time model interaction, and a contextual understanding of the application and runtime environment.
We'll discuss the key elements mentioned above and the difference between existing applications that have added AI capability as an accessory, and this new class of applications that are built with AI in mind from the start. While we'll use the Java ecosystem in examples, the principles we'll discuss are language agnostic.
We'll focus on the architecture discuss these topics:- Big Data and data pipelines
- Integration with other services and APIs
- Testing considerations
- Evolution of UI/AX
Pratik Patel, Lead Developer Relations Engineer at Azul Ststems
Pratik Patel is a Java Champion, developer advocate at Azul Systems and has written 3 books on programming (Java, Cloud and OSS). An all around software and hardware nerd with experience in the healthcare, telecom, financial services, and startup sectors. He's also a co-organizer of the Atlanta Java User Group and Enterprise AI Atlanta, conference chairperson for Devnexus, frequent speaker at tech events, and master builder of nachos.
Twitter: https://x.com/prpatel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prpatel/Huge thanks to our friends at Tessl for sponsoring this event and supporting our community.
This event is organised by RecWorks on behalf of the London Java Community.
The London Java Community is sponsored by Hazelcast, Neo4j, Redis, and Discover1 attendee
LJC Meetup at Capital One
Capital One, 1 Old Street Yard,, London, GBPlease register on Eventbrite to join this event.
About this event
LJC Meet-ups is a new series of events, aimed at giving all Community members an opportunity to present at an LJC event.
Join us on 26th February 2026 for a London Java Community meetup hosted at Capital One. This event brings together practitioners exploring what it means to build modern, cloud‑native platforms and work effectively with AI‑powered development tools.
As cloud adoption matures and AI coding agents become embedded in engineering workflows, this evening focuses on two critical themes: architecting for cloud‑native efficiency and leveraging AI agents more effectively in real‑world development.
Talk 1 – Tom Clifford‑Clarke, Lead Software Development Engineer at Capital One
Keeping our heads in the cloud, using AI agents on the groundMany organisations operate entirely in the cloud — but far fewer are truly cloud‑native. As architectures evolve and AI becomes a core concern, the gap between “running in the cloud” and “optimising for it” becomes increasingly costly.
Tom explores why robust architectural patterns and standards are non‑negotiable today. Drawing on Capital One’s journey, he’ll cover practical approaches to Event‑Driven Architecture, serverless adoption, and service cataloguing strategies that unlock scalability, efficiency, and AI readiness — while improving the developer experience.
Talk 2 – Simon Maple, Founding Head of Developer Relations at Tessl
Working Effectively with AI Coding AgentsAI coding agents are becoming a permanent part of the developer toolkit — but it’s easy to misuse them or not realise their full potential.
This session gives hands‑on guidance for working with AI agents in a more deliberate and productive way. Simon covers how to manage agent context, apply reasoning depth effectively, and shape agent behaviour through structured prompts, compaction strategies, sub‑agents, commands, and hooks.Using examples from popular tools like Cursor, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and Codex, you’ll gain a clearer mental model of how these agents behave, where they excel, and practical techniques you can use in everyday workflows.
Speaker Bios
Tom Clifford‑Clarke
Lead Software Development Engineer at Capital One. Tom’s background spans large‑scale corporate software, end‑user products, and custom delivery tooling. He now focuses on cloud productivity engineering — improving developer experience and enabling teams to build high‑quality software at a sustainable pace.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tbc2/Simon Maple
Founding Head of Developer Relations at Tessl and former VP of Developer Relations at Snyk, ZeroTurnaround, and IBM. A Java Champion, JavaOne Rockstar speaker, Duke’s Choice Award winner, and co‑leader of the London Java Community, Simon specialises in developer productivity, tooling, and community leadership.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonmaple/Huge thanks to our friends at Capital One for sponsoring this event and supporting our Community.
This event is organised by RecWorks on behalf of the London Java Community.
The London Java Community is sponsored by Hazelcast, Neo4j, Redis, and Discover
1 attendee
Past events
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