BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Meetup//Meetup Calendar 1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH NAME:LJC - London Java Community X-WR-CALNAME:LJC - London Java Community BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London TZURL:http://tzurl.org/zoneinfo-outlook/Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:19700329T010000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:19701025T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event_316194795@meetup.com SEQUENCE:1 DTSTAMP:20260920T051330Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260924T110000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260924T114500 SUMMARY:From Search to AI: How Retrieval Evolved DESCRIPTION:LJC - London Java Community\nSearch has come a long way. From exact matching and Boolean queries to semantic search\, embeddings\, RAG a nd agentic AI.\n\nJoin the London Java Community and Redis for a practical journey through the evolution of search and retrieval\, led by Sam Agbede .\n\nIn this session\, Sam will explore how each generation of search has tackled a different challenge\, from traditional information retrieval thr ough to the AI-powered systems we're building today.\n\n**We'll look at:** \n\n* How exact matching and Boolean search shaped information retrieval\n * How TF-IDF and BM25 rank results across large document collections\n* Ho w embeddings and semantic search can find meaning beyond exact keywords\n* How Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) uses retrieved context to suppor t more grounded AI responses\n* How AI agents combine search\, memory\, to ols and verification\n* How Redis 8 and Redis Search support full-text\, v ector and hybrid search for real-time applications\n* Practical examples o f retrieval and verification in mathematical research and agentic AI syste ms\n\nWhether you're working with Java\, building search applications\, ex ploring RAG\, or simply interested in how retrieval is evolving alongside AI\, this session will give you a practical understanding of the technolog ies and ideas shaping modern search.\n\nSam Agbede is a technology profess ional with a focus on Java\, AI and modern application development. Throug h his work and community involvement\, Sam is passionate about exploring p ractical ways developers can use emerging technologies to build better rea l-world systems.\n\nWe hope you'll join us!\n👉 [Register now](https://r edis.io/resources/videos/london-java-community-x-redis-webinar/) and save your place.\n\nA huge thank you to **Redis**\n\nWe'd also like to say a hu ge thank you to our friends at Redis for their continued support of the Lo ndon Java Community throughout 2026.\n\nRedis has been a fantastic partner to the LJC this year\, supporting our events and helping us continue to c reate valuable opportunities for our community to learn\, connect and shar e knowledge.\n\nWe're incredibly grateful for their ongoing support and lo ok forward to continuing to work together to bring more great technical co ntent to the Java community. URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.meetup.com/londonjavacommunity/events/316194795/ STATUS:CONFIRMED CREATED:20260820T092009Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260820T092009Z CLASS:PUBLIC END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event_315903371@meetup.com SEQUENCE:1 DTSTAMP:20260920T051330Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261001T180000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261001T210000 SUMMARY:LJC Meetup at Engine by Starling DESCRIPTION:LJC - London Java Community\nPlease register on [Eventbrite](h ttps://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ljc-meetup-at-engine-by-starling-tickets-199 5969701106) to join this event.\n\nLJC Meet-ups is a series of events\, ai med at giving all Community members an opportunity to present at an LJC ev ent.\n\nJoin us on 1st October 2026 for a London Java Community meetup hos ted at Engine by Starling.\n\n**Speakers:**\n**Chris Davies\, Staff Softwa re Engineer\, Engine by Starling**\n\nTitle:\n*No Magic\, Until It's Worth It: Improving Our Logs with MDC*\n\nAbstract:\nGood logs should let you a nswer many questions. Relying on the raw message alone isn't enough. This is the story of how we tried to get there on a platform of 100+ microservi ces at Engine by Starling — and the "no magic" rule we ended up bending to do it.\n\nExpect a tour through the trade offs of production logging: r aw strings\, structuring context with Java's MDC\, preventing leaks\, and why we broke our own rules and reached for a divisive mechanism - Aspect O riented Programming.\n\nSpeaker bio:\nChris Davies is a Staff Software Eng ineer at Engine by Starling\, working in the Payment Card domain to ensure Engine's platform can cope with new payment schemes and global regions. H e also leads efforts on Engine's AI tooling\, to help developers get the m ost out of it.\n\nHe's spent the better part of a decade in FinTech writin g Java and JVM languages (with some TypeScript and Python along the way) a nd working with AWS serverless technologies. Outside of work\, he enjoys a ttending conferences/meetups\, and picking up the odd bit of teaching and technical reviewing when the opportunity arises.\n\n**Trisha Gee\, Enginee r\, author\, keynote speaker and developer champion**\n\nTitle:\n*Shiny Ne w Tools Won't Fix Your Problem*\n\nAbstract:\nGenerative AI can help us pr oduce code faster than ever before\, but faster code generation does not a utomatically translate into faster or safer delivery. In practice\, AI act s as an amplifier: teams with strong engineering fundamentals improve\, wh ile teams with existing bottlenecks and weak software development practice s feel those problems more acutely.\n\nWriting code is cheaper. Testing\, troubleshooting\, building\, deploying\, understanding and changing it is not.\n\nIn this talk\, we’ll look past the hype and focus on what actual ly drives productivity in an AI-accelerated world. We’ll explore why shi ny new tools don’t fix broken systems\, why optimising individual steps rarely improves end-to-end flow\, and why software engineering fundamental s matter more — not less — when code is easy to generate.\n\nWe’ll a lso look at how observability and measurement help teams understand where time is really being spent\, and why accelerating feedback is essential if AI is going to help rather than hurt.\n\nYou’ll leave with a clear unde rstanding of:\n\n* Which engineering practices consistently improve outcom es in an AI world and provide vital safety nets\n* Why good design and rea dable code still matter\n* What to measure to understand whether AI is rea lly making your team more productive\n\nThis is not an anti-AI talk. It’ s a reminder that the hard parts of software didn’t get easier\, and tha t fundamentals determine whether AI makes us faster\, or breaks us faster. \n\nSpeaker bio:\nTrisha Gee is a Java Champion\, author\, speaker\, and t echnology strategist with over 20 years of software engineering experience . She helps organisations make better decisions about technical products: what to build\, who for\, how developers will use it\, and how to communic ate its value.\n\nHer career spans software engineering\, developer advoca cy\, product strategy\, developer experience\, and technical leadership. S he has a particular interest in the messy space where technology meets the real world: developer tools\, open source\, AI systems\, and the practice s that help engineering organisations build and operate software successfu lly at scale.\n\nKnown for making complex technical ideas understandable\, Trisha has spent much of her career acting as a bridge between engineers\ , product teams\, business leaders\, and the wider developer community.\n\ nShe is the co-author of Head First Java and author of Getting to Know Int elliJ IDEA\, a regular presenter on the Modern Software Engineering YouTub e channel\, and one of the few recipients of the Java Community Lifetime A chievement Award.\n\nPlease register on [Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrit e.co.uk/e/ljc-meetup-at-engine-by-starling-tickets-1995969701106) to join this event. URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.meetup.com/londonjavacommunity/events/315903371/ STATUS:CONFIRMED CREATED:20260730T121342Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260730T121342Z CLASS:PUBLIC END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event_316499024@meetup.com SEQUENCE:1 DTSTAMP:20260920T051330Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261005T180000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261005T210000 SUMMARY:LJC Roundtable: The JCP\, Java Community & The Future of Java DESCRIPTION:LJC - London Java Community\n**Please register on [eventbrite] (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ljc-roundtable-the-jcp-java-community-the-fu ture-of-java-tickets-2000420808488) to join this event.**\n\nJoin the Lond on Java Community for an evening of conversation\, collaboration and commu nity at The Marquis Cornwallis in Bloomsbury\, London\, as we bring Java d evelopers and community members together for our latest LJC Roundtable.\n\ nWe’re delighted to be hosting this event with the support of our new LJ C partners\, Vonage. We’re excited to welcome Vonage to the LJC communit y and look forward to working together to create more opportunities for th e Java community to connect\, share knowledge and shape the future of the ecosystem.\n\nThis informal\, discussion-led evening is an opportunity to share ideas\, explore the topics shaping the Java ecosystem and hear direc tly from leaders helping to influence the future of Java.\n\n**Special Gue st Speaker: Heather VanCura**\n\nWe’re delighted to welcome Heather VanC ura\, Vice President at Oracle and Chairperson of the Java Community Proce ss (JCP)\, who will open the evening with a short talk about the JCP and t he wider Java Community — providing inspiration and context for our roun dtable discussions.\n\nHeather will also explore some of the key JCP worki ng groups and areas of community collaboration\, including:\n\n* Java in E ducation – supporting the next generation of Java developers and explori ng how Java can continue to play a role in education.\n* The Java Ecosyste m – collaboration across the community and the wider ecosystem that keep s Java evolving.\n* Java & AI – exploring the opportunities\, challenges and community conversations around Java and the rapidly developing world of AI.\n\nThere will be plenty of time to dive deeper into these topics\, share your own experiences and discuss where the Java community should foc us next.\n\n**About Heather VanCura**\nHeather VanCura is a seasoned globa l business executive with more than 20 years of experience driving brand a nd shareholder value. She is Senior Director and Chairperson of the Java C ommunity Process (JCP)\, where she leads collaboration among major technol ogy companies including Amazon\, Google\, IBM\, Intel\, Microsoft and othe rs on Java standards.\n\nAt Oracle\, Heather also heads the MySQL Communit y and Developer Relations team. An international keynote speaker\, she has presented across six continents and in more than 50 countries.\n\nBeyond her corporate roles\, Heather advises on digital transformation\, consults on virtual events\, serves as an Expert in Residence at Rippleworks\, and mentors technical leaders through initiatives including Andela\, TechBrid ge and Women Who Code.\n\n**What to Expect**\nThis is a roundtable\, not a traditional conference talk. Heather’s introduction will provide some t hought-provoking ideas and context before we open up the discussion to the community.\n\nCome along to:\n\n* Hear from Heather about the JCP and the future of Java\n* Learn more about current JCP working groups and initiat ives\n* Share your perspectives on Java\, AI and the wider ecosystem\n* Ex change ideas and experiences with fellow Java professionals\n* Take part i n open\, community-led discussions\n* Network with the LJC community over drinks and food\n\n**Event Host:** Steve Poole\, Developer Advocate & Comm unity Director\, London Java Community\n\n**Speaker:** Heather VanCura\, V ice President at Oracle & Chairperson of the JCP\n\nDate: Monday 5th Octob er\nTime: 6:00pm–9:00pm\nVenue: The Marquis Cornwallis\nAddress: 31 Marc hmont Street\, Bloomsbury\, London\, WC1N 1AP\n\nWhether you’re deeply i nvolved in the Java Community Process or simply interested in where Java i s heading\, this is a great opportunity to get involved\, ask questions an d help shape the conversation.\n\nCome along\, bring your ideas and be par t of the discussion.\n\n**Please register on [eventbrite](https://www.even tbrite.com/e/ljc-roundtable-the-jcp-java-community-the-future-of-java-tick ets-2000420808488) to join this event.** URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.meetup.com/londonjavacommunity/events/316499024/ STATUS:CONFIRMED CREATED:20260910T142105Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260910T142105Z CLASS:PUBLIC END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event_315973600@meetup.com SEQUENCE:1 DTSTAMP:20260920T051330Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261204T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261204T170000 SUMMARY:LJC Winter Unconference 2026 DESCRIPTION:LJC - London Java Community\n**Please register on [Eventbrite] (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ljc-winter-unconference-2026-tickets-19964 34819287) to join this event.**\n\nThe LJC is delighted to announce our 21 st Unconference!\nJoin us for a full day of discussions\, knowledge sharin g\, learning\, and networking with other developers in the industry.\n\nTh ere will be an opening keynote session followed by breakout discussion gro ups on the topics which are important to you. Catering is of course includ ed\, with a steady stream of coffee as well as breakfast on arrival\, lunc h and even afternoon tea.\n\n**What is an Unconference?**\nAn unconference is a loosely structured\, participant-driven meeting. You decide what you want to talk and hear about and which topics you want to discuss. It star ts with an empty schedule - no topics are mandated and no separations are made between speakers and the audience. All participants work out a schedu le by suggesting\, planning\, holding\, and evaluating sessions\, collabor atively. Above all else\, it's great fun\, whether you want to learn or sh are it's a supportive and safe space to do it in.\n\nThis is an in-person event\, kindly hosted by **IBM**.\nThank you to our sponsors **Hazelcast** \, **Redis**\, **Capital One**\, and **Recworks**. URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.meetup.com/londonjavacommunity/events/315973600/ STATUS:CONFIRMED CREATED:20260804T120409Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260804T120409Z CLASS:PUBLIC END:VEVENT X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.meetup.com/londonjavacommunity/events/ical/ X-WR-CALNAME:LJC - London Java Community END:VCALENDAR