Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago
In 1965, Tony Hoare invented the null reference—a tiny design decision he later called “the billion-dollar mistake.” Why? Because allowing nulls without requiring developers to declare or handle them explicitly has led to decades of bugs, crashes, and production fires. Java still bears the weight of that choice, but the tide is turning. With JSpecify and NullAway, Java developers can finally bring null safety into their workflow—catching potential NullPointerExceptions at compile time and making the absence of a value part of the type system. In this talk, you will learn how JSpecify works, how to use it with NullAway, and how it helps turn null from hazard to feature. We will also share what is coming in Spring Framework 7 and Spring Boot 4, where JSpecify will help make Spring apps safer and more reliable—in the framework and your own code.
Recorded session from VMware Explore 2025.
In 1965, Tony Hoare invented the null reference—a tiny design decision he later called “the billion-dollar mistake.” Why? Because allowing nulls without requiring developers to declare or handle them explicitly has led to decades of bugs, crashes, and production fires. Java still bears the weight of that choice, but the tide is turning. With JSpecify and NullAway, Java developers can finally bring null safety into their workflow—catching potential NullPointerExceptions at compile time and making the absence of a value part of the type system. In this talk, you will learn how JSpecify works, how to use it with NullAway, and how it helps turn null from hazard to feature. We will also share what is coming in Spring Framework 7 and Spring Boot 4, where JSpecify will help make Spring apps safer and more reliable—in the framework and your own code.
Recorded session from VMware Explore 2025.
