Back from the Road, Getting Started with Claude Code, and Pro Spring Boot 4

Happy Monday, friends!

It's been a busy couple of weeks on the road. Between Commit Your Code in Texas and KCDC in Kansas City, I've had the chance to give some talks, record a few podcasts, and spend time with so many great people in the developer community.

I'm home for a couple of weeks now, catching up on work and everything else that piles up while you're traveling. It's good to be home, but these trips always remind me how much I enjoy getting out into the community. Thank you to everyone who came to a talk, stopped to say hi, or took the time to have a conversation.

I've got plenty to share, including a new talk that I was pretty nervous about giving and some exciting book news from a good friend. Let's get into it.

Conference Recap

Commit Your Code

The first stop was Commit Your Code in Plano, Texas, just outside Dallas. Danny Thompson and the team have put together something really special here.

A ticket was just $40, and the value you get for that is incredible. Great speakers, great food, and a welcoming community. One thing that stood out to me was the dedicated networking tracks. Having time built into the schedule specifically to meet and talk with other people was a really nice touch.

We recently had Danny on Spring Office Hours, where we talked about his work and the conference. If you missed that conversation, you can catch S5E20: The Developer's Guide to AI with Danny Thompson.

I got to see a bunch of great sessions. One of my favorites was the second-day keynote on how the PGA Tour uses AI. I really enjoyed hearing how they approached bringing AI into their workflows and applications. Seeing how a team is putting these tools to work gives you a lot to think about for your own projects.

I also gave a talk introducing Spring AI. The challenge? I had 25 minutes. If you've seen me talk about Spring AI before, you know I can spend a lot longer than that on the subject.

That time limit forced me to focus on the questions that matter when you're getting started: why AI matters for Java developers, why you would reach for a framework like Spring AI, and what it helps you do. I was happy with how it came together, and I got some really good feedback afterward.

Overall, a wonderful conference. Thank you to Danny, the organizers, and everyone who made it such a great experience.

KCDC

Next up was KCDC, and I just love this conference. I've been going for the last few years, and it's always an event I look forward to.

I was there for about four days, which gave me some time to check out workshops, record podcasts, and catch up with friends before and between my own sessions.

The big one for me this year was a brand-new talk: Claude Code: Start Simple, Scale Smart.

I put a lot of work into this presentation, and I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. At a conference with developers from so many different backgrounds, I wanted to cover something that would be useful across languages and frameworks.

We have all these new tools available to us, but how do we actually get started? How do we use them well? And how do we keep from getting overwhelmed when we open social media and see someone talking about running ten agents or reviewing pull requests from the gym?

My goal was to give people an approachable place to begin and a path to build on as they got more comfortable. Still, I wondered whether it would be too introductory for the audience.

The room ended up being packed, with people standing in the back. And the feedback afterward meant a lot to me. People told me it was exactly the introduction they had been looking for and that they now had a better idea of how to get started and when to take the next step.

After spending so much time putting this talk together, hearing that was incredibly rewarding. Thank you to everyone who came, asked questions, and shared feedback with me.

On Friday, I also gave What's New in Spring, walking through what's new in Spring Boot and what those changes mean for developers. We spent some time talking about why staying current matters, too, especially as AI becomes part of the conversation around finding vulnerabilities in software.

Two very different talks, and I really enjoyed getting to share both of them.

Portland Java User Group

A few weeks ago, I also had the opportunity to speak virtually to the Portland Java User Group. I couldn't make it out to Portland this time, but I hope to visit in person someday soon.

The talk was an introduction to AI for Java developers using Spring AI. A theme that keeps coming up in these sessions is the idea that AI development means Python. That association makes sense when you think about the history of machine learning and deep learning, but many of us are now building applications that consume AI models.

If you're a Java developer, you can bring those capabilities into the applications you're already building. A framework like Spring AI helps with a lot of the integration work.

We started with some high-level concepts and then jumped into code to explore a few Spring AI features. My goal was to make it approachable and show how easy it can be to get something up and running.

Thank you again to the Portland Java User Group for having me. If you run a user group and would like me to present, virtually or in person, please reach out. I'd love to hear from you.

Pro Spring Boot 4 Is Out

I'm not sure I've had a chance to mention this here yet, but Pro Spring Boot 4 is out! My good friend DaShaun Carter co-authored the book with Felipe Gutierrez, and I'm really excited for them.

I brought my copy to KCDC so DaShaun could sign it. He did more than sign his name, though. He wrote a really thoughtful note inside, which I appreciated a lot. It was nice to have the chance to celebrate this with him in person.

We also caught up with Felipe on Spring Office Hours to talk with him and DaShaun about the book, the experience of writing it together, and what readers can expect. You can listen to S5E21: Pro Spring Boot 4 with Felipe Gutierrez.

If you're looking to learn more about Spring Boot 4, check out the book here.

Congratulations, DaShaun and Felipe!

Podcast Recordings at KCDC

One of the fun things at KCDC was having access to a live recording studio. I got to sit down for two podcast conversations while I was there.

DaShaun and I recorded an episode of Spring Office Hours from the conference. I also recorded a conversation with my good friend Nate Schutta about public speaking for developers.

Neither recording is published yet, but I'll share them when they're available. Keep an eye on springofficehours.io for the Spring Office Hours episode.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

I'm enjoying a little time at home, but it won't be long before I'm back on the road.

In October, I'll be in Colorado for dev2next, where I have several sessions on the schedule.

Then in November, I'm heading to Porto Tech Hub in Porto, Portugal, where Nate and I will be giving a keynote. I am beyond excited about that one, and I'm really looking forward to spending time with the community there.

QCon San Francisco is also coming up in November, with some customer talks mixed in between these events. It's going to be a busy fall!

You can find more details on my speaking page. If you're attending any of these events, come find me and say hi. I'd love to see you there.

Until Next Week

One thing I kept hearing over these last few weeks is that developers want a clear place to start with AI. Whether we're talking about using Claude Code or adding AI features to a Spring application, there's a lot of interest and a lot to sort through. The questions and conversations from these events have given me plenty of ideas for what to cover next.

I hope you enjoyed this newsletter installment, and I will talk to you in the next one. If you have any questions for me or topics you would like me to cover please feel free to reply to this email or reach out to me on Twitter.

Happy Coding,
Dan Vega
https://www.danvega.dev