Kenneth Kousen

President, Kousen IT, Inc.

Ken Kousen is a Java Champion, several time JavaOne Rock Star, and a Grails Rock Star. He is the author of the Pragmatic Library books “Mockito Made Clear” and “Help Your Boss Help You,” the O'Reilly books “Kotlin Cookbook”, “Modern Java Recipes”, and “Gradle Recipes for Android”, and the Manning book “Making Java Groovy”. He also has recorded over a dozen video courses for the O'Reilly Learning Platform, covering topics related to Android, Spring, Java, Groovy, Grails, and Gradle.

His academic background include BS degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics from M.I.T., an MA and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton, and an MS in Computer Science from R.P.I. He is currently President of Kousen IT, Inc., based in Connecticut.

Presentations

Upgrade to Modern Java: 2025 Deep Dive

9:00 AM MDT

Over the past few years, the basic idioms and recommended programming styles for Java development have changed. Functional features are now favored, using streams, lambda expressions, and method references. The new sixmonth release schedule provides the language with new features, like modules and local variable type inference, much more frequently. Even the new license changes in the language seem to complicate installation, usage, and especially deployment.

The purpose of this training course is to help you adapt to the new ways of coding in Java. The latest functional approaches are included, including using parallel streams for concurrency, and when to expect them to be useful. All the new significant features added to the language will be reviewed and evaluated, with the goal understanding what problems they were designed to handle and when they can be used effectively in your code.

Practical AI Tools for Java Developers

1:00 PM MDT

This talk will be tailored to Java developers as we delve into the practical applications of AI tools to ease your software development tasks. We'll explore the capabilities of GitHub Copilot used as a plugin for IntelliJ IDEA and VSCode. We'll also play with GPT4 and examine ways it can help.

It's often said that AI tools will not replace existing developers, but that a developer with those tools will have an advantage over developers without them. Join us as we try to demystify the world of AI for Java developers, equipping you with practical skills to incorporate these tools into your development workflow. Note that this is a rapidly changing field, and the talk will evolve to work with the latest features available.

Practical AI Tools for Java Developers

3:00 PM MDT

Custom GPTs for Fun, Profit, and Potential Liability

8:00 PM MDT

In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, the ability to create custom Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPTs) is not just a technological breakthrough but a gateway to new opportunities and unforeseen challenges. This talk delves into the simplicity and intricacies of crafting bespoke GPT models using OpenAI's playground. We'll explore how easily one can load personal data into these models, transforming generic AI into a tool tailored to specific needs and interests. However, this ease comes with a caveat – currently, these custom models are accessible exclusively to premium OpenAI account holders, pending the launch of a wider distribution platform.

The presentation will further illuminate the dual nature of custom GPTs: While they are augmented with user-provided data and instructions, their responses are still deeply rooted in their original, extensive training datasets. This inherent characteristic can lead to outputs that might not align with the creator's intentions or expectations, presenting a unique set of challenges.

Additionally, the talk will contrast the relative simplicity of using the playground for custom GPTs with the more complex, yet potent AI Assistants API. This API offers a more intricate approach, requiring coding expertise but providing the flexibility to integrate AI capabilities directly into applications. It shifts the paradigm from an external tool to an integral component of user-developed software.

Modern Java 21+: The Next-Level Upgrade

1:30 PM MDT

With much of the industry finally migrating to Java 11, 17, or 21, it’s time to learn about many of the newer features you can use in your code. None of the changes since Java 8 have been as dramatic as the move to functional programming, but collectively the latest capabilities can really streamline the way you work. This talk summarizes several of them, like records and record patterns, sealed classes and interfaces, switch expressions, the HTTP client API, pattern matching for switch, and more, using them together in an app to see how they interact and improve your Java coding experience.

This talk summarizes several of them, like records and record patterns, sealed classes and interfaces, switch expressions, the HTTP client API, pattern matching for switch, and more, using them together in an app to see how they interact and improve your Java coding experience.

Books

Modern Java Recipes: Simple Solutions to Difficult Problems in Java 8 and 9

by Ken Kousen

The introduction of functional programming concepts in Java SE 8 was a drastic change for this venerable object-oriented language. Lambda expressions, method references, and streams fundamentally changed the idioms of the language, and many developers have been trying to catch up ever since. This cookbook will help. With more than 70 detailed recipes, author Ken Kousen shows you how to use the newest features of Java to solve a wide range of problems.

For developers comfortable with previous Java versions, this guide covers nearly all of Java SE 8, and includes a chapter focused on changes coming in Java 9. Need to understand how functional idioms will change the way you write code? This cookbook—chock full of use cases—is for you.

Recipes cover:

The basics of lambda expressions and method references
Interfaces in the java.util.function package
Stream operations for transforming and filtering data
Comparators and Collectors for sorting and converting streaming data
Combining lambdas, method references, and streams
Creating instances and extract values from Java’s Optional type
New I/O capabilities that support functional streams
The Date-Time API that replaces the legacy Date and Calendar classes
Mechanisms for experimenting with concurrency and parallelism

Gradle Recipes for Android

by Ken Kousen

Using the Android Studio IDE and the Gradle build tool will make Android app development much simpler—as long as you know your way around Gradle. This practical guide shows you how Gradle works with Android so that you can use it effectively on your projects. You’ll learn ways to customize project layouts, add dependencies, and even generate multiple different versions of your application.

Use Gradle independently and from with the new preferred IDE, Android Studio
Integrate tests into standard Android project builds
Easily customize builds to add popular third-party libraries as dependencies
Generate artifacts with various properties, like debug or release, and different flavors, like paid or free

Making Java Groovy

by Ken Kousen

Summary

Making Java Groovy is a practical handbook for developers who want to blend Groovy into their day-to-day work with Java. It starts by introducing the key differences between Java and Groovy—and how you can use them to your advantage. Then, it guides you step-by-step through realistic development challenges, from web applications to web services to desktop applications, and shows how Groovy makes them easier to put into production.

About this Book

You don't need the full force of Java when you're writing a build script, a simple system utility, or a lightweight web app—but that's where Groovy shines brightest. This elegant JVM-based dynamic language extends and simplifies Java so you can concentrate on the task at hand instead of managing minute details and unnecessary complexity.

Making Java Groov is a practical guide for developers who want to benefit from Groovy in their work with Java. It starts by introducing the key differences between Java and Groovy and how to use them to your advantage. Then, you'll focus on the situations you face every day, like consuming and creating RESTful web services, working with databases, and using the Spring framework. You'll also explore the great Groovy tools for build processes, testing, and deployment and learn how to write Groovy-based domain-specific languages that simplify Java development.

Written for developers familiar with Java. No Groovy experience required.

Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.

What's Inside

Easier Java
Closures, builders, and metaprogramming
Gradle for builds, Spock for testing
Groovy frameworks like Grails and Griffon

About the Author

Ken Kousen is an independent consultant and trainer specializing in Spring, Hibernate, Groovy, and Grails.

Table of Contents

PART 1: UP TO SPEED WITH GROOVY

Why add Groovy to Java?
Groovy by example
Code-level integration
Using Groovy features in Java

PART 2: GROOVY TOOLS

Build processes
Testing Groovy and Java projects

PART 3: GROOVY IN THE REAL WORLD

The Spring framework
Database access
RESTful web services
Building and testing web applications

Groovy Fundamentals [Online Code]

by

Number of Videos: 4 hours - 23 lessons
Author: Ken Kousen
User Level: Beginner
Learn the advantages of using Groovy by itself and with existing Java projects. This video workshop takes you into the heart of this JVM language and shows you how Groovy can help increase your productivity through dynamic language features similar to those of Python, Ruby, and Smalltalk. Presenter and Java consultant Ken Kousen demonstrates how writing anything from a simple build script to a full scale application is much easier with Groovy than with Java. You’ll quickly learn how to add Groovy to your projects, and then explore the language through a host of examples and demonstrations. Once you complete this course, check out Ken’s other videos on the subject: Practical Groovy and Mastering Groovy. - Walk through Groovy’s basic data types. Use the “slashy” string syntax to define regular expressions. - Learn how operator overloading in the libraries simplifies your code - Control and customize all the natural defaults and autogenerated code in POGOs - Get demonstrations on using closures, and mixing Java and Groovy classes together - Know when and how to use Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) transformations - Parse and generate both XML and JSON - Access RESTful web services with ease Ken Kousen, President of Kousen IT, Inc., is a technical trainer, mentor, and consultant in all areas related to Java, specializing in Android, Spring, Hibernate/JPA, Groovy, and Grails. He is the author of Making Java Groovy (Manning) and the upcoming O’Reilly book, Gradle for Android.

System Requirements:

Supported OS: [Mac Mountain Lion 10.8, Mac Lion 10.7, Mac Snow Leopard 10.6, Mac Leopard 10.5, Mac OS X, Macintosh]
Processor: Any
RAM: Any
Hard Disk: 3GB
Video Card: Any