Still on Java 8 or 11? No judgment, most of us are. Maybe the rewrite isn’t coming. Maybe the upgrade to Java 17 or 21 is always six months away. Maybe that old system just… works.

This talk is about what to do when you're not moving on. Because staying doesn’t have to mean suffering, and it definitely doesn’t mean giving up on good engineering.

We’ll walk through four practical ways to make life in legacy Java better:

Code: How to write cleaner, more modern-feeling Java even when older language versions limit you.

Architecture & Testing: How to add structure, testability, and confidence without needing a complete rewrite.

Performance: How to get speed and efficiency gains while sticking to your current runtime.

Security: How to stay protected without constantly firefighting vulnerabilities or risking instability from rushed upgrades.

Legacy isn’t going away. But you can live in it with confidence, and you don’t have to let it get in the way of your love of software engineering.