Yes, I am a Java champion my friends, and I’ll keep on Javaing till the end.

Do you know the Java Champion program ? It was created by Sun to recognize leaders in the Java developer community. The concept is to build an informal but select group of passionate Java technology and community people outside of Sun. As quoted in the Java Champions web site, these people can be :

• Java Luminaries; senior developers; architects; consultants; JCP members; etc
• Academics/University Professors
• Authors of Java-related content (online & print) and industry conference speakers
• Community leaders: Java User Group (JUG) Leaders and the Leaders of online Java portals

So as you can see, the Champions program is aimed at community. And the duty of a champion should be :

Java Champions would be in a Leadership role.  Champions would focus what they learn from the program back to the java community, spread the knowledge, and positively influence other developers. Steer people to the Java Community for technology problem solving, application development, or just plain “evangelization” of what Java can do.

So, how did I suddenly become a Champion ? First of all it is not sudden. Champions need to recommend people to become champion. Then, there is a vote within the Champion mailing list and you get voted in or not depending on the result. Last year, Vincent Brabant introduced me to the Champions community, but some members thought it was a bit to soon. I had to show my involvement in the newly created Paris JUG. A year later, Stephan Janssen asked a new vote, and I got accepted.

Why me ? Well, to become a Champion you need to fulfil at least 3 of the 5 principles, and these are the principle that I filled :

Principle #1: – Java Champions are Leaders. This is due to my involvement in the Paris JUG.

Principle #2: – Java Champions are Luminaries in their field. This is mostly due to the work I’ve been doing with the JCP with Java EE 6 (expert member on JSR-316, 317, 318).

Principle #5: – Java Champions are able to Evangelize or influence other developers through their own professional activities. And this one is related to the courses I’ve been teaching at the Parisian CNAM university, the two books I wrote (Java EE 5 and Java EE 6), the talks I give at conferences and JUGs, and recently the french podcast Les CastCodeurs.

It is an honour to be part of the Java Champions and I would like to thank them all for voting me in. Particularly Vincent Brabant and Stephan Janssen who proposed my nomination and Aaron who supervises the program. It’s been great to be part of Java, part of the community, part of the JUG Leaders and now be part of the Champions.

I will keep on the hard work and fill my role of a champion.