As I write this, JavaOne 2012 (September 30-October 4 in San Francisco, 
CA) is just over a week away -- the seventeenth JavaOne! I’ll resist the
 impulse to travel in memory back to the early days of JavaOne. But I 
will say that JavaOne is a little like your birthday or New Year’s in 
that it invites reflection, evaluation, and comparison. It’s a time when
 we take the temperature of Java and assess the world of information 
technology generally. At JavaOne, insight and information flow amongst 
Java developers like no other time of the year.This year, the 
status of Java seems more secure in the eyes of most Java developers who
 agree that Oracle is doing an acceptable job of stewarding the 
platform, and while the story is still in progress, few doubt that 
Oracle is engaging strongly with the Java community and wants to see 
Java thrive. 
  From my perspective, the biggest news about Java is the growth of 
some 250 alternative languages for the JVM – from Groovy to Jython to 
JRuby to Scala to Clojure and on and on – offering both new 
opportunities and challenges. The JVM has proven itself to be unusually 
flexible, resulting in an embarrassment of riches in which, more and 
more, developers are challenged to find ways to optimally mix together 
several different languages on projects.    
  To the matter at hand -- I can say with confidence that Oracle is 
working hard to make each JavaOne better than the last – more 
interesting, more stimulating, more networking, and more fun! A great 
deal of thought and attention is being devoted to the task. To free up 
time for the 475 technical sessions/Birds of feather/Hands-on-Labs 
slots, the Java Strategy, Partner, and Technical keynotes will be held 
on Sunday September 30, beginning at 4:00 p.m.   
  Let’s not forget Java Embedded@JavaOne which is being held 
Wednesday, Oct. 3rd and Thursday, Oct. 4th at the Hotel Nikko. It will 
provide business decision makers, technical leaders, and ecosystem 
partners important information about Java Embedded technologies and new 
business opportunities.   
  This year's JavaOne theme is “Make the Future Java”. So come to JavaOne and make your future better by:--Choosing from 475 sessions given by the experts to improve your working knowledge and coding expertise --Networking with fellow developers in both casual and formal settings--Enjoying world-class entertainment--Delighting in one of the world’s great cities (my home town) 
   Hope to see you there! 
  Originally published on blogs.oracle.com/javaone.