Write Java that's clean, fast and built to last.
Shaun is a practical hub for Java developers — from your first main method to virtual threads, Spring Boot microservices and production-ready tooling.
// Modern Java: records, sealed types, pattern matching sealed interface Shape permits Circle, Square {} record Circle(double r) implements Shape {} record Square(double side) implements Shape {} double area(Shape s) { return switch (s) { case Circle(var r) -> Math.PI * r * r; case Square(var side) -> side * side; }; } void main() { try (var ex = Executors.newVirtualThreadPerTaskExecutor()) { ex.submit(() -> IO.println("Hello from Shaun ☕")); } }
Core topics
Everything a working Java developer touches, organised so you can go deep where it matters.
Language fundamentals
OOP, generics, collections, exceptions, records, sealed classes and pattern matching.
Concurrency
Virtual threads, structured concurrency, CompletableFuture and the java.util.concurrent toolkit.
Spring Boot
REST APIs, dependency injection, Spring Data, security and observability out of the box.
Build tooling
Maven and Gradle, dependency management, multi-module builds and reproducible releases.
Testing
JUnit 5, Mockito, AssertJ and Testcontainers for confident, fast feedback loops.
Performance & JVM
Garbage collectors, JIT, profiling with JFR, GraalVM native images and memory tuning.
Developer roadmap
A step-by-step path from beginner to production engineer.
Set up your environment
Install a JDK (Temurin 25), pick an IDE like IntelliJ IDEA or VS Code, and learn the java launcher.
Master the language
Syntax, types, OOP, the Collections API, Streams and lambdas.
Build and test
Structure projects with Maven or Gradle and write tests with JUnit 5 from day one.
Ship web services
Build REST APIs with Spring Boot, connect to databases with JPA or JDBC, and secure them.
Run in production
Containerise with Docker, monitor with Micrometer & OpenTelemetry, and tune the JVM.
Best practices
Habits that keep Java codebases healthy as they grow.
- Prefer immutability — use records and
List.of()for value data. - Return
Optionalinstead ofnullfor absent results. - Use try-with-resources for anything that must be closed.
- Keep methods small and classes focused on one responsibility.
- Stay on an LTS JDK and upgrade regularly.
- Automate formatting and static analysis in CI.