Java Metroplex User Group (JavaMUG)

Abstract
Let's face it AI-assisted coding is rapidly becoming the primary way applications are being written. The power of being able to write out a complicated application or feature with a just a few commands is something too alluring to pass up.

But between the imprecise nature of language and LLMs ability to "hallucinate", this creates many opportunities for bugs and unintended behavior to introduced. Just telling an AI coding agent to "write tests" isn't going to be enough to build confidence in the correctness of an application either.

In this presentation we are going to review three distinct phases to testing AI written code. The known knowns; using spec driven development to define the business meaningful behavior of your application. Known unknowns; using property-based testing to handle edge cases and avoid over fitting and unintended biases. And finally unknown unknowns, using static analysis and mutation testing to avoid introducing bugs you didn't think about.

AI-assisted coding is a rapidly evolving field, but this presentation should give you the framework and approach on how to have confidence when using AI to assist in writing applications.

Speaker
Billy Korando is a Java Developer Advocate with the Java Platform Group at Oracle. With over a decade of experience in Java, Billy brings a passion for helping developers reduce tedious work, such as project initiation, deployment, testing, and validation, through automation and adopting the latest features and tools in the Java ecosystem. Outside of work, Billy enjoys traveling, playing kickball, and cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs. Billy also co-organizes the Kansas City Java users group.

Meeting Details
We'll be meeting at Improving Enterprises, 5445 Legacy Dr #100, Plano, TX 75024

The pizza and networking start at 6:30pm and the meeting at 7pm. Come have a great evening of learning with your fellow local Java enthusiasts!

Abstract
Join us for an introduction to Apache Grails 8, the latest major release of the high-productivity, Groovy-based web framework built on Spring Boot. Grails continues to deliver on its core promise of dramatically simplifying full-stack Java development through convention-over-configuration, expressive DSLs, powerful GORM data access across SQL and NoSQL, flexible views, a rich plugin ecosystem, and seamless Spring Boot integration, while aligning with the modern Java 21+ and Spring Boot 4 ecosystem for better performance, modularity, and developer experience.

This session highlights what is new and improved in Grails 8, including key dependency upgrades, stronger alignment with the latest Spring and Gradle advancements, and the framework’s continued maturation as a Top-Level Apache project.

We will take it several levels higher by weaving in advanced Agentic Engineering practices and AI-driven workflows. This is exactly how modern development happens now. See how Grails’ elegant simplicity and rapid feedback loops become a perfect multiplier for AI agents, enabling intelligent scaffolding, automated code generation and refactoring, smarter testing, documentation, and even orchestrating complex feature implementation. Whether you are using agents to explore, plan, implement, verify, or release Grails applications, you will discover practical patterns that turn vibe coding into durable, maintainable, high-velocity engineering.

This talk blends foundational knowledge for newcomers with forward-looking insights for experienced developers and teams. Expect practical takeaways, real-world examples, and inspiration for building and evolving full-stack applications faster and more enjoyably than ever, powered by the combination of Grails 8’s productivity layers and modern agentic AI.

Ideal for Java and Groovy developers, architects, and anyone looking to boost output without sacrificing quality or control in the AI era.