I'm (Adam Bien / @AdamBien) a freelancing consultant working with Java since JDK 1.0, with Servlets and EJB since their 1.0 releases (before J2EE even existed), and with JavaScript since 1995 on Netscape Navigator.
I am a software architect, developer and consultant specialising in web development, serverless cloud computing and AI/LLMs. Lately I'm using agents to accelerate development without compromising best practices. Agents amplify whatever practices a project already has, so standards, simplicity and minimal dependencies matter more than ever. Luckily, LLMs were trained on decades of standards and boring, stable technology: the more standard the stack, the better the results and the lower the inference costs. A full-standards stack leverages the LLM's knowledge through the entire application, from the back end to the front end.
I work on Java projects favouring standards and minimal external dependencies (SE/Jakarta EE/MicroProfile, serverless and NoOps), as well as web projects using ES6+, Web Components and web standards (no frameworks). Although I often start in an architectural role, within a few days I typically find myself developing proofs of concept (PoCs), performing code reviews, automating modernisation and migration tasks with agents, and assisting teams with critical system development.
consulting
Over the past few years, I have helped numerous clients modernise their Java EE/Jakarta EE/MicroProfile applications, eliminate external dependencies, and migrate from on-premises environments to serverless architectures on AWS and Azure. Such projects typically start with code and architecture reviews and lead to a pragmatic cloud migration and cost savings.
Sometimes my clients ask me, 'OK, but what about the web front end?' I help with that too, using web standards such as ES6+, modern CSS and Web Components to productively develop sustainable web applications that never need a framework migration. Occasionally, we move existing 'bloated' applications from a framework to vanilla web standards with only a few external dependencies. The web platform is getting more powerful with every release, and so are the LLMs trained on it: custom frameworks are becoming less viable from both directions.
books and standards
I have written several books about JavaFX, J2EE, and Java EE, and I'm the author of Real World Java EE Patterns—Rethinking Best Practices and Real World Java EE Night Hacks—Dissecting the Business Tier. I write books and articles during my travels, and sometimes even during unproductive meetings.
In my leisure, I participated in the JCP as an Expert Group member for the Java EE 6 and 7, EJB 3.X, JAX-RS, CDI, and JPA 2.X JSRs.
awards
I am also a Java Champion, NetBeans Dream Team Founding
Member,
Road to re:invent 2025 Hackathon winner,
Tech Star of the Year 2023
,
Oracle ACE Director, Sun :-) Certified Programmer, Sun Certified Java
Architect, AWS Hero,
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, AWS Certified Developer Associate, AWS Certified Solutions Architect
Professional, AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate, AWS Certified Database - Specialty,
Java Developer of the Year 2010, and attendees of my sessions
voted me JavaOne Rock Star in 2009, twice in 2011, 2012 and 2014, and three times in 2013.
conferences and workshops
I speak regularly at conferences, but I'm neither a professional speaker nor a writer. I just really enjoy writing code and killing the bloat. ...and Java is perfect for that.
I'm organising live, virtual online workshops a few times a year: airhacks.live, and in-person workshops at Munich Airport (MUC): airhacks.university.
