
Holly Cummins
IBMer, Java Champion, occasional maker and regular speaker.
We Left WordPress: CMS vs Static Sites, Hugo vs Jekyll vs Roq (Foojay Podcast #102)
Episode 102 of the Foojay Podcast. All info, show notes, and links are available at https://foojay.io/today/category/podcast/ Foojay.io…
![Six and a half ridiculous things to do with Quarkus]()
Six and a half ridiculous things to do with Quarkus
Let’s abuse the tools! Everyone knows Quarkus is computationally efficient, expressive, and rock-solid for production. But did you know that…
![Six and a half ridiculous things to do with Quarkus]()
Six and a half ridiculous things to do with Quarkus
Let’s abuse the tools! Everyone knows Quarkus is computationally efficient, expressive, and rock-solid for production. But did you know that…
![Asynchronous & Unreliable - Conversations on The Edge of Software]()
Asynchronous & Unreliable - Conversations on The Edge of Software
Welcome to Asynchronous and Unreliable, the new weekly podcast where we discuss the latest and most fascinating ideas in: software…
![Six and a half ridiculous things to do with Quarkus]()
Six and a half ridiculous things to do with Quarkus
Let’s abuse the tools! Everyone knows Quarkus is computationally efficient, expressive, and rock-solid for production. But did you know that…
![Airhacks.fm – From WebSphere to Quarkus: The Evolution of Java Classloading]()
Airhacks.fm – From WebSphere to Quarkus: The Evolution of Java Classloading
![When benchmarks go bad - what I learned from measuring performance wrong]()
When benchmarks go bad - what I learned from measuring performance wrong
The world of performance analysis is littered with flawed claims, cognitive biases, dangerous intuitions, and beguiling fallacies. Sadly…
![The ROI of Quarkus for Spring Boot Applications]()
The ROI of Quarkus for Spring Boot Applications
Quarkus applications are quick to code, start fast, and require much less hardware than their Spring Boot equivalents. They use less memory…
![These Five Tricks Can Make Your Apps Greener, Cheaper, & Nicer]()
These Five Tricks Can Make Your Apps Greener, Cheaper, & Nicer
The code we write has a climate impact. But how big is that impact? How do we measure it? How do we reduce it? Is the cloud helping? What’s…
![Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job]()
Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job
Development is about working with computers, right? Well, not quite. Development is all about working with computers ( easy), and working…
![Five (and a half) Cool Things You Can Do With Quarkus]()
Five (and a half) Cool Things You Can Do With Quarkus
Save the world. Lightning-quick CLIs. Embed WASM. Run Spring code. AI, for real. 5½. Use Minecraft as an observability client. Ok, this one…
![When benchmarks go bad - what I learned from measuring performance wrong]()
When benchmarks go bad - what I learned from measuring performance wrong
The world of performance analysis is littered with flawed claims, cognitive biases, dangerous intuitions, and beguiling fallacies. Sadly…
Kodsnack 701 - The chicken would explode
Fredrik chats to Holly Cummins about using Minecraft for observability, other amazing Quarkus tricks, and the value of joy at work. Recorded…
![We're Gonna Build a Benchmark – Lyrics]()
We're Gonna Build a Benchmark – Lyrics
I was inspired by Dylan Beattie’s “We’re Gonna Build a Framework” (go watch it, it’s so good!) to make a song called “We’re Gonna Build a…
![Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job]()
Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job
Development is about working with computers, right? Well, not quite. Development is all about working with computers ( easy), and working…
![How We Benchmarked Quarkus: Patterns and anti-patterns]()
How We Benchmarked Quarkus: Patterns and anti-patterns
Holly, Eric, and Franz discuss some of the lessons learned in creating the new Quarkus benchmark suite.
![Java and Web – airhacks.fm podcast with Adam Bien]()
Java and Web – airhacks.fm podcast with Adam Bien
![Six and a half ridiculous things to do with Quarkus]()
Six and a half ridiculous things to do with Quarkus
Let’s abuse the tools! Everyone knows Quarkus is computationally efficient, expressive, and rock-solid for production. But did you know that…
![Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job]()
Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job
Development is about working with computers, right? Well, not quite. Development is all about working with computers ( easy), and working…
![Fixing The Open Source Bus Number]()
Fixing The Open Source Bus Number
Open source is a marvellous multiplier which amplifies our collective productivity by allowing us to code on the shoulders of giants. It has…
![The free-lunch guide to idea circularity]()
The free-lunch guide to idea circularity
Why do the same ideas keep coming round again, and again? Why is it that sometimes an idea sticks, and sometimes it just fades away? Why is…
![Developer Journey: Accelerating Developer Productivity]()
Developer Journey: Accelerating Developer Productivity
In 2026, we’ve learned not to measure developer productivity by lines of code. What actually matters is the velocity of the “inner loop” and…
![Quarkus has great performance – and we have new evidence]()
Quarkus has great performance – and we have new evidence
Quarkus: Supersonic Subatomic Java
![From Quantum Physics to Quarkus – airhacks.fm podcast with Adam Bien]()
From Quantum Physics to Quarkus – airhacks.fm podcast with Adam Bien
Security & DevEx: Can We Have Both? • Abby Bangser, Adrian Mouat & Holly Cummins • GOTO 2025
This interview was recorded at GOTO Copenhagen 2025. #GOTOcon #GOTOcphhttps://gotocph.comAbby Bangser - Platform Engineering Insights from…
Quarkus in Action • GOTO Book Club
This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club.http://gotopia.tech/bookclub Check out more here:https://gotopia.tech/episodes/416Martin
![Six and a half ridiculous things to do with Quarkus]()
Six and a half ridiculous things to do with Quarkus
Let’s abuse the tools! Everyone knows Quarkus is computationally efficient, expressive, and rock-solid for production. But did you know that…
![Foojay Podcast #89: Quarkus and Agentic Commerce]()
Foojay Podcast #89: Quarkus and Agentic Commerce
Things Software Developers Think They Don’t Need to Care about, But Can Impact Their Job
Holly Cummins gave a keynote at Goto Copenhagen where she urged developers to care about overlooked issues that shape their work. She warned…
![How Quarkus makes your apps cheaper, greener, and happier]()
How Quarkus makes your apps cheaper, greener, and happier
Quarkus makes both people and hardware more efficient. That’s cool, but how does it work? Usually, we expect to trade-off developer…
![Five (and a half) Cool Things You Can Do With Quarkus]()
Five (and a half) Cool Things You Can Do With Quarkus
Save the world. Lightning-quick CLIs. Embed WASM. Run Spring code. AI, for real. 5½. Use Minecraft as an observability client. Ok, this one…
![Developer Joy - The New Paradigm]()
Developer Joy - The New Paradigm
Ever been told “work is not a place to be happy?” It’s not true! As developers, our job is to be productive, and we’re most productive when…
![Using LangChain4j to Make Your Java Apps Smarter]()
Using LangChain4j to Make Your Java Apps Smarter
AI isn’t just for coding assistants and python programmers. The real power of LLMs comes from integrating them into applications, connected…
![Six and a half ridiculous things to do with Quarkus]()
Six and a half ridiculous things to do with Quarkus
Let’s abuse the tools! Everyone knows Quarkus is computationally efficient, expressive, and rock-solid for production. But did you know that…
![Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job]()
Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job
Development is about working with computers, right? Well, not quite. Development is all about working with computers ( easy), and working…
![Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job]()
Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job
Development is about working with computers, right? Well, not quite. Development is all about working with computers ( easy), and working…
![Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job]()
Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job
Development is about working with computers, right? Well, not quite. Development is all about working with computers ( easy), and working…
![Optimizing Cloud Native Java • GOTO - The Brightest Minds in Tech]()
Optimizing Cloud Native Java • GOTO - The Brightest Minds in Tech
This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club.http://gotopia.tech/bookclub Read the full transcription of the interview here.
![LangChain4j, Java, and You]()
LangChain4j, Java, and You
If you’re not experimenting with AI, were you even developing in 2025? LangChain4j is emerging as a de facto standard for LLM integration in…
The ELUSIVE ART of User-Focused Simplicity In Software
This clip from The Engineering Room features Dave Farley and Holly Cummins, Senior Principal Software Engineer at Red Hat, as they explore…
Aflevering 99: The Hidden Cost of Doing Nothing: Hunting Cloud Zombies | De Nederlandse Kubernetes Podcast
Holly explains that waste in our infrastructure is often easier to solve than we think. With simple automation, time-bound resources, or…
Productivity Through Play: Why Messing Around Makes Better Software Engineers
In this podcast, Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke to Holly Cummins about productivity in creative knowledge work like…
Developer Joy: A Better Way to Boost Developer Productivity
Joy isn’t a distraction from productivity. Learn how to reclaim developer satisfaction and boost output by embracing curiosity, minimizing…
![Efficiency and Rock 'n’ Roll (Really!)]()
Efficiency and Rock 'n’ Roll (Really!)
Is efficiency rock and roll? You might think the answer is “no, definitely not, no way.” Efficiency is about doing more with less, and rock…
![Efficient Software: A Developer’s Manual for Saving The World]()
Efficient Software: A Developer’s Manual for Saving The World
None of us actually like waste, but many of us tolerate it. This is a shame, because waste is really really bad. It makes our software more…
![Java meets AI: Build LLM-Powered Apps with LangChain4j]()
Java meets AI: Build LLM-Powered Apps with LangChain4j
Join us for a guided tour through the possibilities of the LangChain4j framework! Chat with virtually any LLM provider ( OpenAI, Gemini…
Create AI-Infused Apps with LangChain4j (and Quarkus) (Mini Lab)
Generative AI has taken the world by storm, and it seems like every executive leader out there is telling us “regular” Java devs to “add AI…
![Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job]()
Things You Thought You Didn’t Need To Care About That Have a Big Impact On Your Job
Development is about working with computers, right? Well, not quite. Development is all about working with computers ( easy), and working…
How Developers Can Eliminate Software Waste and Reduce Climate Impact
High performance and sustainability correlate; making software go faster by improving the efficiency of algorithms can reduce energy…
The Evolution Of Kubernetes Workload Patterns
Kubernetes workloads differ because they represent applications and services deployed within a cluster encompassing one or more components.
How AI will change software engineering
No one can agree how AI will change software engineering. Here’s how to prepare anyway.
![The Efficiency Paradox and How to Save Yourself and the World]()
The Efficiency Paradox and How to Save Yourself and the World
Inefficiency is ruining our planet and our lives. Efficiency is ruining our happiness, and weirdly, it’s also ruining our efficiency…
![Productivity is Messing Around and Having Fun]()
Productivity is Messing Around and Having Fun
Developer satisfaction, developer joy, and business results are strongly correlated. Developer productivity frameworks like SPACE recognize…
![The Weight of Data: Rethinking Cloud-Native Systems for the Age of AI]()
The Weight of Data: Rethinking Cloud-Native Systems for the Age of AI
The explosion of data and the rise of AI agents have brought cloud-native systems to a critical tipping point. While the CNCF has driven…
![Practical Zombie Hunting for Kubernetes Users]()
Practical Zombie Hunting for Kubernetes Users
Zombies? Yup, zombies. Zombies are servers which aren’t doing useful work. They’re everywhere, costing money, eating electricity, and…
theCUBE at KubeCon+CloudNativeCon EU 2025
Holly Cummins, Senior Principal Software Engineer, Red Hat, &Vincent Caldeira, CTO APAC, Red Hat, join theCUBE for this segment of KubeCon…
Kubernetes drives AI scale with cloud-native power - SiliconANGLE
Kubernetes plays a key role in scaling AI, bridging stateless design with stateful needs while supporting cloud-native, edge and sustainable…
Environment Variables: Sustainable AI Progress
For this 100th episode of Environment Variables from the Green Software Foundation, guest host Anne Currie is joined by Holly Cummins…
Optimizing Cloud Native Java • GOTO Book Club
This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club. #GOTOcon #GOTObookclub http://gotopia.tech/bookclub Read the full transcription of the…
![Zero Waste, Radical Magic, and Italian Graft – Quarkus Efficiency Secrets]()
Zero Waste, Radical Magic, and Italian Graft – Quarkus Efficiency Secrets
What makes a platform efficient? Is it how quickly code executes, or is it how quickly developers can use it to solve problems? Quarkus…
![The Efficiency Paradox and How to Save Yourself and the World]()
The Efficiency Paradox and How to Save Yourself and the World
Inefficiency is ruining our planet and our lives. Efficiency is ruining our happiness, and weirdly, it’s also ruining our efficiency…
![Tradeoffs, Bad Science, and Polar Bears – The World of Java Optimisation]()
Tradeoffs, Bad Science, and Polar Bears – The World of Java Optimisation
Welcome to the Java optimisation jungle. Why can’t we “just make it go faster”? It turns out, in most cases, we need to first work out…
![The Efficiency Paradox and How to Save Yourself and the World]()
The Efficiency Paradox and How to Save Yourself and the World
Inefficiency is ruining our planet and our lives. Efficiency is ruining our happiness, and weirdly, it’s also ruining our efficiency…
![The Efficiency Paradox and How to Save Yourself and the World]()
The Efficiency Paradox and How to Save Yourself and the World
Inefficiency is ruining our planet and our lives. Efficiency is ruining our happiness, and weirdly, it’s also ruining our efficiency…
![Tradeoffs, Bad Science, and Polar Bears – The World of Java Optimisation]()
Tradeoffs, Bad Science, and Polar Bears – The World of Java Optimisation
Welcome to the Java optimisation jungle. Why can’t we “just make it go faster”? It turns out, in most cases, we need to first work out…
The Engineering Room with Dave Farley
Listen to Dave Farley’s The Engineering Room with Dave Farley podcast on Apple Podcasts.
![Leverage LLMs in Java with LangChain4j and Quarkus]()
Leverage LLMs in Java with LangChain4j and Quarkus
In this session, we’ll explore how to infuse AI capabilites into Java applications, using LangChain4j and its Quarkus integration. We’ll…
![Less waste, more joy, and a lot more green – How Quarkus makes Java better]()
Less waste, more joy, and a lot more green – How Quarkus makes Java better
Quarkus makes both people and hardware more efficient. That’s cool, but how does it work? Usually, we expect to trade-off developer…
The Power of LLMs in Java – Leveraging Quarkus and LangChain4j
Generative AI has taken the world by storm over the last year, and it seems like every executive leader out there is telling us “regular…
Refactoring to Kube-native Java with Quarkus
Quarkus was created to enable Java developers to deliver applications for a modern, cloud-native world. A Kubernetes-native Java framework…
Choosing the right Java runtime for the job
Successful digital transformation requires business and IT systems to be secure, sustainable, and minimize technical debt. Technical debt…
![The future of development – Are our jobs getting harder or easier?]()
The future of development – Are our jobs getting harder or easier?
In the early days of computing, software developers had to encode their programs on punch cards, and carry the bits around by hand. By the…
![Zombie Menace, Vampire Peril]()
Zombie Menace, Vampire Peril
It’s the spookiest time of year! You might think spookiness and tech are unrelated, but you’d be wrong. Well, actually, you’d probably be…
![Productivity is Messing Around and Having Fun]()
Productivity is Messing Around and Having Fun
What is the happy path, for developers? It’s less boredom, and more play. Developer satisfaction, developer joy, and business results are…
![Zero Waste, Radical Magic, and Italian Graft – Quarkus Efficiency Secrets]()
Zero Waste, Radical Magic, and Italian Graft – Quarkus Efficiency Secrets
What makes software efficient? Is it how quickly code executes, or is it how quickly developers can use it to solve problems? Quarkus makes…
![How Quarkus makes your apps cheaper, greener, and happier]()
How Quarkus makes your apps cheaper, greener, and happier
Java never went away, but it’s having a renaissance. After some initial teething pains on the cloud (too big, too slow, too hard to…
![Panel – Where Is Software Development Going?]()
Panel – Where Is Software Development Going?
![The Efficiency Paradox and How to Save Yourself and the World]()
The Efficiency Paradox and How to Save Yourself and the World
Inefficiency is ruining our planet and our lives. Efficiency is ruining our happiness, and weirdly, it’s also ruining our efficiency…
![NLJUG academy masterclass – Create Java-based AI applications with Quarkus and LangChain4j]()
NLJUG academy masterclass – Create Java-based AI applications with Quarkus and LangChain4j
Generative AI has taken the world by storm over the last year, and it seems like every executive leader out there is telling us “regular…
![How Quarkus makes your apps cheaper, greener, and happier]()
How Quarkus makes your apps cheaper, greener, and happier
Java never went away, but it’s having a renaissance. After some initial teething pains on the cloud (too big, too slow, too hard to…
![Developer Joy == Developer Productivity (really!)]()
Developer Joy == Developer Productivity (really!)
Ever been told “work is not a place to be happy?” It’s not true! As developers, our job is to be productive, and we’re most productive when…
![How to create your own Quarkus extension]()
How to create your own Quarkus extension
Holly Cummins discusses the basics, tips and tricks of creating your own Quarkus extensions.
![Using yq in GitHub Actions]()
Using yq in GitHub Actions
TLDR: GitHub runners come with yq pre-installed. There’s no need to install it, or use a third-party action. A problem of modern search…
![Productivity is Messing Around and Having Fun]()
Productivity is Messing Around and Having Fun
What is the happy path, for developers? It’s less boredom, and more play. Developer satisfaction, developer joy, and business results are…
![Quarkus Efficiency Secrets]()
Quarkus Efficiency Secrets
What makes a platform efficient? Is it how quickly code executes, or is it how quickly developers can use it to solve problems? Quarkus…
![Is efficiency a good thing?]()
Is efficiency a good thing?
We live in a golden age of efficiency. Our modern cloud native applications have tiny footprints. Our infrastructure is now code. Everything…
![Faster, greener, and happier- why Quarkus should be your next tech stack]()
Faster, greener, and happier- why Quarkus should be your next tech stack
Java never went away, but it’s having a renaissance. After some initial teething pains on the cloud (too big, too slow, too hard to…
![Productivity is Messing Around and Having Fun]()
Productivity is Messing Around and Having Fun
What is the happy path, for developers? It’s less boredom, and more play. Developer satisfaction, developer joy, and business results are…
![Six things we learned implementing Rockstar on Quarkus]()
Six things we learned implementing Rockstar on Quarkus
Let’s run Rockstar programs on Quarkus! What could possibly go wrong? Rockstar is an example of an “esoteric language,” designed to be…
![Java Annoted Featured Content – The Long Version]()
Java Annoted Featured Content – The Long Version
I’m a JetBrains Community Contributor, and I was honoured to be invited to provide featured content for the Java Annotated newsletter. A…
![Zero Waste, Radical Magic, and Italian Graft – Quarkus Efficiency Secrets]()
Zero Waste, Radical Magic, and Italian Graft – Quarkus Efficiency Secrets
What makes a platform efficient? Is it how quickly code executes, or is it how quickly developers can use it to solve problems? Quarkus…
![Faster, greener, and happier- why Quarkus should be your next tech stack]()
Faster, greener, and happier- why Quarkus should be your next tech stack
Java never went away, but it’s having a renaissance. After some initial teething pains on the cloud (too big, too slow, too hard to…
![What is cloud native and how can it generate business value?]()
What is cloud native and how can it generate business value?
Knowing what cloud native is and where it benefits enterprise operations is essential for competitive cloud development
![Will Generative AI Kill Developer Jobs?]()
Will Generative AI Kill Developer Jobs?
Large language models are astonishingly good at producing large volumes of code quickly. That’s also, sort of, what I do for a living…
![The future of development: Are our jobs getting harder or easier?]()
The future of development: Are our jobs getting harder or easier?
In the early days of computing, software developers had to encode their programs on punch cards, and carry the bits around by hand. By the…
![Faster, greener, and happier- why Quarkus should be your next tech stack]()
Faster, greener, and happier- why Quarkus should be your next tech stack
Java never went away, but it’s having a renaissance. After some initial teething pains on the cloud (too big, too slow, too hard to…
LCC 307 - Interview sur la passion, la créativité et le fun sur le long terme avec Holly Cummins et Mark Jane
Enregistré le 27 février 2024
![Is Efficiency A Good Thing? Part II: All the Things That Can Go Wrong]()
Is Efficiency A Good Thing? Part II: All the Things That Can Go Wrong
In part I of this blog, I discussed what efficiency even is, and explored the question of whether we’re any good at it. Although in some…
![Is Efficiency A Good Thing? Part I: What is Efficiency, and Are We Any Good At It?]()
Is Efficiency A Good Thing? Part I: What is Efficiency, and Are We Any Good At It?
This blog is based on a keynote I presented at Tech.Rocks Summit 2023. I’m grateful to the organisers for suggesting the topic. Is…
![Six things we learned implementing Rockstar on Quarkus]()
Six things we learned implementing Rockstar on Quarkus
Let’s run Rockstar programs on Quarkus! What could possibly go wrong? Rockstar is an example of an “esoteric language,” designed to be…
![Tame Microservices with Contract Testing]()
Tame Microservices with Contract Testing
Every time you change one microservice, the others break. But you had unit tests! What’s going on? Unit tests aren’t enough to give system…
![The future of development: Are our jobs getting harder or easier?]()
The future of development: Are our jobs getting harder or easier?
In the early days of computing, software developers had to encode their programs on punch cards, and carry the bits around by hand. By the…
![Tradeoffs, Bad Science, and Polar Bears – The World of Java Optimisation]()
Tradeoffs, Bad Science, and Polar Bears – The World of Java Optimisation
Welcome to the Java optimisation jungle. Why can’t we “just make it go faster”? It turns out, in most cases, we need to first work out…
![Taming Microservices with Contract Testing]()
Taming Microservices with Contract Testing
Every time you change one microservice, the others break. But you had unit tests! What’s going on? Unit tests aren’t enough to give system…
![Is efficiency a good thing?]()
Is efficiency a good thing?
We live in a golden age of efficiency. Our modern cloud native applications have tiny footprints. Our infrastructure is now code. Everything…
![The AI skills gap is becoming incredibly troubling for companies everywhere]()
The AI skills gap is becoming incredibly troubling for companies everywhere
The solution isn’t so clear, report claims
![Faster, greener, and happier- why Quarkus should be your next tech stack]()
Faster, greener, and happier- why Quarkus should be your next tech stack
Java never went away, but it’s having a renaissance. After some initial teething pains on the cloud (too big, too slow, too hard to…
![Cloud Native Users Struggle to Achieve Benefits, Report Says]()
Cloud Native Users Struggle to Achieve Benefits, Report Says
Of those organizations that have “gone cloud native,” 95% said that challenges are keeping them from seeing the full benefits, in a new…
![Quarkus Unveiled: Efficiency & Green Impact]()





























































