“Best of Java” Feature Face-off 2025

- By Marcus

The results are in from this year’s “Best of Java” Feature Face-Off on Twitter/X!

While Mission Control once again secured a win in the Tools category, it ultimately (and perhaps not too surprisingly) lost against Virtual Threads — arguably the most impactful runtime feature added to Java in the past years.

jmc-feature-faceoff

In the last edition of the Feature Face-Off (2020), JDK Mission Control won it all:

faceoff

Here’s to hoping there are even more exciting language and/or runtime features in the face-off for 2030! Smile

If you’re interested in open source development, and would like to get involved in the development of JDK Mission Control, feel free to reach out:

TL;DR:

  • 2020: JDK Mission Control won the “Best of the JDK” Feature Face-Off

  • ️ 2025: JDK Mission Control won the Tools category

  • 2025: Virtual Threads won the final and took the overall crown

What is that countdown all about?

- By Marcus

If you’ve visited hirt.se lately, you may have noticed a new countdown ticking away. Since a few people have reached out to ask what it means, I figured I should probably explain myself. In my defence, the counter was really just added for the family. 

The short answer: when the timer hits zero, my family and I will be moving to a new house. Still in Küssnacht — I can literally see the new place from where we live now, just a few hundred meters away.

So no, it’s not a doomsday clock, and it’s definitely not heralding the rapture. It’s just a move.

Knowing how these things typically go, expect the usual moving-day(s) comedy of errors: internet disruptions, servers bumping down staircases, spontaneous cable sacrifices… If the blog disappears for a bit, that’s why.