Modernizing Java applications has always been a challenge. As a Java developer, I’ve faced the difficulties of upgrading legacy code—managing technical debt, dealing with dependency issues, and investing significant time to ensure a smooth transition. Moving from Java 8 to a newer version often felt like more trouble than it was worth.

Now, Amazon Q Developer makes this process much easier. This AI-powered tool automates the transformation of Java 8 applications to Java 21, significantly reducing the time and effort required. What used to take weeks can now be done quickly, allowing developers to focus on building new features instead of fixing old code.

As a Solutions Architect, my area of interest has always been Automation and how it can help developers be more effective and make their lives easier. Many developers are embracing Kubernetes as an environment for their applications. However, setting up a vanilla Kubernetes cluster in the cloud might be quite challenging for a developer who is not keen on doing it the “hard way”. Local setup, with various tools, is easier but takes resources from a developer’s computer. Wouldn’t it be great if we had a simple way to spin up and tear down a Kubernetes cluster in the cloud in a matter of minutes and immediately use it? Now, with Amazon EKS Auto Mode, it is possible! Let’s find out how.

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) is a fully managed Kubernetes service that enables you to run Kubernetes seamlessly in both AWS Cloud and on-premises data centers. Just a few days before AWS re:Invent 2024, a new, exciting feature was released - Amazon EKS Auto Mode. This feature gives you a possibility to have a fully functional EKS cluster in a matter of minutes, with all necessary components included. There are several methods of deploying an EKS cluster. You can find some of them in the documentation or in the launch blog, but today I will use another one - deploying with AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) in Java. You can use a similar approach if you use other programming languages with AWS CDK.