From April 20–23, 2026, the European Java community will once again gather in Cologne for JCON EUROPE 2026. Taking place at the Cinedom multiplex cinema, the conference brings together developers, architects, and Java enthusiasts for four days of knowledge sharing, inspiration, and real-world experience — all on the big screen.
Under the motto “Big screen. Big community. Big AI.”, JCON EUROPE 2026 offers an in-person program running daily from 9:00 to 18:00 (CEST), combining technical depth with a strong community focus.
Workshop Day: Hands-on Start
The conference kicks off on Monday, April 20, with a dedicated Workshop Day starting at 13:00. A total of eight hands-on workshops will be held across two time slots:
- Slot 1: 13:00–15:00 (four workshops)
- Slot 2: 16:00–18:00 (four workshops)
A one-hour break separates the sessions. Workshop seats are limited, with a participation fee of €19 (incl. VAT) per workshop.
Three Days of Main Conference Content
From Tuesday to Thursday (April 21–23), the main conference features 100+ sessions and over 100 speakers. Topics range from core Java and modern software architecture to security, observability, DevOps, and artificial intelligence. In addition to scheduled talks, hallway-track discussions remain a key part of the JCON experience, encouraging spontaneous exchange and peer-to-peer learning.
Premium AI Track: Production-Ready AI for Java Teams
A major new element of JCON EUROPE 2026 is the Premium AI Track, running all day on Tuesday and Wednesday (April 21–22) in Cinema 7. Sessions in this track are accessible to Premium Pass holders or as an upgrade during ticket purchase. For a limited time, a 20% early-bird discount is available via the voucher code JAVAPRO-EARLYBIRD.
The Premium AI Track is aimed at Java teams integrating AI into real production systems. Instead of focusing on experimental prototypes or tool hype, the track concentrates on responsible, maintainable AI usage that preserves code quality, architectural clarity, and long-term ownership.
Focus Areas of the Premium AI Track
- AI-Assisted Coding in Professional Java Workflows
Using AI coding assistants without compromising readability, testability, or maintainability. - Responsible and Local AI Usage
Running AI tools in controlled environments to manage cost, latency, and sensitive data. - Architecture for AI-Heavy Systems
Clean architectural approaches and evolving design patterns for AI-enabled Java systems. - Agentic and Multi-Agent Systems with Java
Practical concepts for building agent-based systems with Java and Jakarta EE. - Enterprise Integration and Operations
Introducing AI into existing platforms with attention to compliance, sustainability, and operational stability.
These themes are reflected in sessions such as “Seven Habits of Highly Effective AI Java Coding” (Jonathan Vila), “Green AI with JobRunr: Sustainable Training and Inference on the JVM” (Ronald Dehuysser), and “Building Intelligent Enterprises: AI-Powered Java with LangChain4j & CDI” (Emily Jiang).
Ticket Information: JavaPro Early-Bird Offer
Readers of JavaPro can currently benefit from an exclusive Early-Bird discount of 20% on the following tickets:
- JCON 3 Day Full-Conference Pass
- JCON 3 Day Premium Pass
- JCON Premium Daypass
The discount can be redeemed using the voucher code JAVAPRO-EARLYBIRD during ticket purchase via the official ticket platform.
Conclusion
With its cinema-based setting, strong community focus, and a program that balances established Java topics with practical, production-ready AI, JCON EUROPE 2026 continues to position itself as one of Europe’s leading Java conferences. The new Premium AI Track highlights a growing need in the Java ecosystem: integrating AI in a controlled, professional way — without sacrificing craftsmanship or long-term maintainability.
Further information, the full schedule, and ticket details are available on the JCON website.
