"New places are always an opportunity" – Interview with Merlin Bögershausen

When and how did you discover your passion for IT and how did you end up with Java?

When I was 10 years old, I was fascinated by the Nibbels port in the QBasic emulator on my father's old PC and somehow the PC never let go of me. It's still in my childhood bedroom today. I came to Java during high school, we started with C/C++ and later switched to Java 1.5. I was fascinated by the fact that I no longer had to worry about everything.

How did you first become aware of JavaLand and what memories do you have of your first JavaLand?

My very first conference ever would have been the canceled 'COVID JavaLand', and the best thing about it was the spontaneous online replacement event organized by the community. When I was there as a speaker for the first time a year later, I was even more captivated by the community. That has remained the case to this day, the best thing is and remains the community and its spirit!

At this year's JavaLand, you are focusing on the Open Rewrite tool. Can you give us a brief foretaste of what participants can expect from your session? Why did you choose this particular topic?

In my deep dive, we will first look at the Open Rewrite tool and its possibilities and create a common basis for the second part. In this part, I invite the participants to experience the use and extension of Open Rewrite together with me using an example. The participants can use this experience, back in their everyday lives, to efficiently clear the huge mountain of migration work. I hope to contribute to a positive turnaround in dealing with legacy code.

What are the most exciting developments in Java for you at the moment?

The changes in the Java language and the JDK are particularly exciting for me. They enable elegant implementations, efficient use of hardware and conservation of resources. At the same time, they also bring new migration efforts that should not be underestimated. Open Rewrite is a good tool for efficiently implementing large quantities of these efforts.

JavaLand is taking place at Nürburgring for the first time this year. Do you already know the location? What expectations do you have of the new venue?

I was at Rock am Ring festival at and on Nürburgring a few years ago. That was great fun thanks to Green Day. I think we'll have the same fun within the community and, by the way, Nürburgring also has a rollercoaster [Editor's note: The aforementioned roller coaster called Ring-Racer has not been running for many years and now serves as an atmospheric light installation for a neighboring hotel]. New places are always an opportunity.

What are you looking forward to most at JavaLand?

Definitely the exchange and discussions within the community. I'm hoping for some interesting discussions about modern Java and the role of tools in these times. And of course I'm looking forward to the new version of the evening events!

Dear Merlin, thank you very much for the interview!