Below are the technical talks presented at tech conferences and privately for interested organizations. The synopsis provides a basic description of the talk; more details about the talks can also be found on my Sessionize page. Contact me (me [a] scottsosna [dot] dev) if you require more details, a link to either the slide deck or recording (when available), or are interested in having the complete talk given. Thanks!

Table of Contents

Talks

Building a File System on Neo4J

Building a File System on Neo4J demonstrates using Java’s FileSystem abstraction to implement a custom file system that provides seamless integration/interaction with other file systems via the Files helper class, where file system objects – directories, files, links, etc. – are stored as a graph in Neo4J to optimize performance. The talk includes live coding and a demo of the file system in action. Hard-core Java, very geeky, very fun.

Presented At

KCDC 2026

Customized Jakarta Bean Validators

The out-of-the-box Jakarta Validation constraints – @NotNull, @Size, @Min, @Max, etc. – are extremely helpful when checking the validity of single class members or method parameters. Anything more complex requires custom validation.

Via an example Spring Boot application, Customized Jakarta Bean Validators shows how to implement a custom validator. Even with fairly simple requirements, the implementation quickly devolves into spaghetti code. Finally, the validator is reimplemented using an extensible domain-specific library for a more maintainable solution.

The short version of the talk is primarily live-coding; the complete version includes a deeper dive into the basics of Jakarta Validations.

Presented At

IBM TechXChange/JCON USA 2026 (upcoming)

Data Modeling for Software Engineers

Agile empowers teams to own solutions from inception through design, implementation and deployment, which includes data design. Data usage normally extends beyond a single solution, but engineers often do not have the background or experience to realize how today’s data choices affect how usable the data is for the organization tomorrow. Data Modeling for Software Engineers jump-starts an engineer’s data understanding, providing a first introduction into data design by introducing some basic concepts that can help make better data decisions. The talk focuses on the why of data modeling, not the how.

Presented At

Devoxx Greece 2025, NDC Oslo 2025, Devoxx Poland 2025, Dev Up STL 2025, Beer City Code 2025, KCDC 2025, Nerdearla Argentina 2026, TechBash 2026 (upcoming)

Data Modeling for Software Engineers: The Workshop

Data Modeling for Software Engineers: The Workshop is a half-day or full-day workshop where engineers apply what was learned from the talk. The workshop’s exercises extend the functionality of a rudimentary service by implementing features, each requiring data decisions and changes. Each exercise concludes with a group discussion about different approaches and tradeoffs made during the implementation.

The tech stack is Java or .NET with data persistence in MongoDB . The full-day workshop includes an emphasis on relational modeling to provide more background into concepts and standards of data modeling that are useful when making implementation decisions.

Presented At

KCDC 2026

De-monolithing the Monolith? Think Again!

De-monolithing the Monolith? Think Again! challenges the belief that a legacy application can evolve in place from its initial design and current implementation into an up-to-date, modern software architecture by identifying technical, implementation, and organizational challenges that frequently doom the effort. The talk concludes by presenting options and approaches, including greenfield reimplementation, though admittedly any option or approach has its unique challenges.

A thought-provoking talk that challenges attendees to consider their own organization and situation before starting what is going to be a difficult journey.

Presented At

Devoxx UK 2023, Devoxx Morocco 2023, Build Stuff 2024, Devoxx Greece 2025, Devoxx Poland 2025, JDD 2026 (upcoming)

Personalizing Your Random Numbers

Personalizing Your Random Numbers defines – or attempts to – randomness and its importance in computer security, explains the challenges of generating true randomness, and demonstrates generating random numbers specific to you using inexpensive hardware devices attached to your computer. The talk concludes with live coding and a demonstration using software-defined radio dongles and a web cam. Fun, though only useful if you’re paranoid about what is available through your tech stack!

Presented At

Nerdearla Chile 2026, JCON Slovenia 2026, JavaZone 2026, TechBash 2026

Your Codebase as a Crime Scene

Your Codebase as a Crime Scene is a comedic, realistic and potentially depressing talk that attempts to identify who is responsible for your codebase devolving into an unmitigated disaster. Spoiler alert: everyone, from the CEO on down, can be blamed. Everyone. An attendee asked, facetiously, “Should I be concerned that I’ve already seen everything identified only two years into my professional career?” Definitely onto something worth sharing!

Presented At

Devoxx Poland 2025, Devoxx Belgium 2025, DevUpSTL 2025, JCON Europe 2026, JCON Slovenia 2026, Beer City Code 2026