Top 15 Java user groups you should join
To be up to date with news and events in the programming world, you HAVE TO join some community groups, share your opinions and experiences. Because what is learning without talking with folks from the same industry? It just simply doesn’t make sense if you don’t bother to communicate with others during your development.
That’s why we have decided to do some research and make a list of the Top 15 most frequented and most active Java user meetups, which we’re sure you’ll enjoy. I started my analysis by searching for groups that organize online as well as those that have stationary events. I did my research on portals such as Eventbrite or meetup.
What’s going on?
The meetup groups are public and usually have a few organizers who schedule upcoming events. You can join the meetings either stationary or online, so you can choose whether you want to stay at home or travel a little. All the information and the required links about the events are on the pages listed below, so you can ask yourself: what might be exciting for me about it. You can see the sponsors of the meetups, so you can broaden your understanding of the meetup, get to know more about the details of the events, and get an insight into who is going to be speaking at the meetings.
Moreover, on the group site, you can find a discussion forum where you can chat with other members, a good opportunity to make new contacts or even get to meet new friends, people who might create projects with you in the future. All pretty cool, right? So, let’s jump straight to the list.
#1 Virtual Java User Group, London, UK
VJUP is the first virtual group for java enthusiasts, but don’t let its age put you off. Despite the ancient vibe, the group is active and still gaining in popularity. There are 17,851 members and six organizers. One of the sponsors is the Snyk company. They organize events about once a month. If you want to check out their other activities, check VJUPs’ Twitter profile.
2# Full Stack Developers Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
In this community group, people have the opportunity to share what they’ve learned together, along with their opinions. There are 13,602 members, and the keynote of the group is sharing knowledge! Sounds good. The sponsor of the whole project is the Tikal company, and the organizer is the CEO of Tikal. Why should you join this group? Because it is simply huge and popular. Sometimes, among the piles of information, you will find something absorbing. As the old proverb says, there are as many people as opinions, which makes it an exciting place to be.
3# Tech in Motion, USA
Tech in Motion™ is a North American tech event series where thought leaders come together and share ideas. This is a place where enthusiasts can learn from professionals and inspire one another. It was created by IT Staffing Firm Motion Recruitment. Tech in Motion has, in summary, 101,256 members, and an event series consisting of 14 groups. They currently host events in 4 different formats: Tech Talks, Demos & Drinks, Networking Mixers and Timmy Awards.
4# The New York City Java Meetup Group, USA, New York
This group is for every Java technology freak. The NYC Java Study Groups JUG has been the sponsor of the NYC Java Meetup for over 22 years. They organize events a minimum of once every two months. Unfortunately, it’s also irregular, so to be up to date; I recommend you follow them on their meetup account. The members in this group number 11,435, so you will surely find something valuable there.
#5 Toronto Java Script
Among the sponsors of this meetup, you can find New Relic, Strong Loop, OKGrow!, LighthouseLabs, along with 9,567 members. These are people who are passionate about Java programming, from amateurs to professional programmers. You can join events a number of times a month, so you can find a slot in your tight schedule for one meetup every month.
#6 The San Francisco Java User Group
Here, there is a big frequency of events, the number of members is 8,021, and the upcoming meetup is going to be Probabilistic Data Structures with Redis Bloom, 21.10.2021. Maybe you already know this topic, maybe not, but what’s essential is the fact that at the time of writing this article, which was the 22nd of September, 37 people had already signed up for the event. This means that the quality of the content is surely satisfying. I also encourage you to follow their Twitter account.
7# LJC – London Java Community
Firstly, let’s introduce you to the sponsors because they are really cool: Snyk, jClarity, skills matter, RecWorks, and Devox UK. They all mean you will be updated with the latest industry developments and news. The group has 7,385 members and organizes 3 to 4 events a month, which is convenient and much easier to schedule if you want to attend one of them.
8# Berlin Hack and Tell
9# IT Development Café
It is as it sounds – full of vibes, for everyone and every skill level. You will feel really welcome. And all with the purpose to keep each other up to date on the latest development trends. They organize events almost every month and have 4,065 members. If you prefer to join stationary, the food and drinks will be arranged by Spilberg IT Dev Careers, so you can grab your favorite snack and learn with the IT Development Cafe. Maybe there is some speaker you want to see perform at the meetup? Or a specific topic you want to discuss? Let the organizers know :) They are ready to prepare exactly what you are interested in.
10# Microsoft Reactor New York
In this group, you engage with industry experts. All of the events are now virtual (because of Covid-19), but it’s a great option for those who aren’t in New York, but at the same time want to get to know the local community. You can sign up for the newsletter to get notifications about the monthly events here. The quality of the events is really good and as you can probably guess, it is more than enjoyable to join this kind of meetup, which is always well organized. There are 3,272 members, and events are held 3 to 4 times a month. Worth joining, no matter what level of programming you are at.
11# Melbourne Java & JVM Users Group
Many of the group’s members are software developers using the Java language and looking to find out what’s new, and what new ideas they can bring to their projects. If you are looking for inspiration, you can probably find it here. The latest meeting was about how to build the fastest Java applications in OpenSource, but sometimes they also cover topics related to functional programming. There are 2,559 members and thanks to you they can reach a round number, so why not jump straight into this Australian programming team!
12# JavaScript DC, USA, do you want to apply for a job?
Thanks to partnerships with local companies, this offers high-quality coding and technology training as well as free seminars and 1-day workshops. The lessons cover for example topics like Intro to JavaScript and jQuery, Intro to JavaScript Angular, and many more. Again, I have good news for you about the sponsors, one of which is Jobsora – an innovative job search platform which is available in more than 35 countries around the world. Want to learn theory but at the same time looking for a job to develop your skills in practice? This is the place for you.
13# Javaforum Göteborg, Sweden
The first group from Scandinavia on our list! How exciting. Nordic countries offer generous benefits, creating a more attractive environment for companies and foreign nationals to establish new operations. Unsurprisingly, Scandinavian countries are consistently ranked among the happiest countries in the world. Not interested yet? Maybe this will impress you; among the sponsors are Squeed, Textalk, Gunnebo Business Solutions, and Sigma. So you can find a slot for other meetups, this group organizes events once every 3 months.
14# Jersey City – Java User Group (JC-JUG)
There are 1,799 members and events are held a minimum of once a month. There are a lot of interactive learning sessions, and active discussion forums, so you can share your opinions without worrying about not getting any feedback. Whether you’re doing Java, Scala, Kotlin, Clojure, Groovy, or something edgier, this group is for you. Follow this community on Twitter, and don’t hesitate to ask questions.
#15 Coding Bootcamps, USA
The grande finale! The last one is also quite special. The organizers offer Bootcamps, which are held both online and stationary. Each bootcamp program runs 15 hours a week. Do you have a job, school, run your own business, or do you just live a busy life? Not a problem – the classes are held after business hours and on weekends. Among the sponsors, you can find Jobsora and Hashflow, so again this is an awesome place to learn and develop your skills.
JVM family
Let’s shift our focus a little bit, and introduce you to Scalac’s event – our team took on topics related to functional programming in general and created the Functional Tricity Meetup. It has already gained 1,074 members and the number is still growing. We usually meet in Gdańsk at the Olivia Business Center, but the presentations are also online and available on YouTube. All of this in connection with the organization of our Functional World conference, about which you can find more information here.
To sum up
As you can see, with such a plentiful choice of sources, all you need is to be willing to absorb knowledge. The IT industry, especially when it comes to programming, has been going through a lot of changes and news lately, so there is always something innovative to learn about.
To make things easier for you, below you will find a list of links to the meetup pages of the particular groups:
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/virtualJUG/
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/TechinMotionSF//
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/TechinMotionSF//
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/nycjava//
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/torontojs/
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/sfjava/
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/Londonjavacommunity/
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/Berlin-Hack-and-Tell/events/
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/IT-Development-Cafe/
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/Microsoft-Reactor-New-York/events/
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/Melbourne-Java-JVM-Users-Group/events/past/
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/javascript-dc/members/190092331/profile/?returnPage=1
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/Javaforum-Goteborg/
https://www.meetup.com/pl-PL/Jersey-City-Java-User-Group-JC-JUG/
See also:
- Looking at a piece of the Functional World
- Online events organization: 12 lessons learned
- Best music for coding + developers’ recommendations
- Is Java Right For You?
Authors
Marketing Specialist at Scalac. At work I value creativity, willngness to learn and good teamwork. Besides, I love to travel, I am piano player and #catlover.
