BDEN Meetup #3 – Hands-On Developer Experience

On June 12th, we gathered at AE in Leuven for the third Belgian Developer Experience Network (BDEN) meetup. After previous editions touched on AI and Platform Engineering, this time we zoomed in on practical, developer-focused topics.

The evening combined thought-provoking talks, live demos, and plenty of opportunities to connect with fellow developers.

The Talks

🔺 DevSecOps: A Love Triangle

Speaker: Burr Sutter (Java Champion, Director of Developer Experience @ Red Hat)

Burr opened the night with his signature energy, exploring the sometimes messy—but essential—relationship between Dev, Sec, and Ops. By drawing parallels with the drama of love triangles, he highlighted how these roles often clash, yet depend on one another to succeed.

With live demonstrations featuring Internal Developer Platforms, Backstage, Kubernetes, and the CNCF ecosystem, Burr showed what it takes to move from friction to collaboration. His takeaway? Harmony is possible, but only if teams embrace shared responsibility.

Want a recap of the DevSecOps presentation? We have it online on our YouTube!

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☕ From Reactive to Virtual: Simplifying with Java’s Virtual Threads

Speaker: Alex Wauters (CTO @ Customaite.ai)

Next, Alex shared how his team at Customaite.ai transitioned from a reactive programming model with Quarkus Mutiny to embracing Java’s Virtual Threads.

The shift wasn’t just about performance—it was about writing cleaner, easier-to-maintain code. Alex also walked us through the custom patterns they built to fill in gaps around structured concurrency, giving attendees practical advice they could take back to their own projects.

Interested in the Virtual Threads presentation? You can also find it online on our YouTube!

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Community, Conversations & Connections

As always, the evening wasn’t just about the talks. Over food and drinks, attendees shared experiences, debated ideas, and connected with peers from across the Belgian developer community.

The buzz in the room was proof that BDEN is more than just a meetup—it’s becoming a place where developers learn, collaborate, and grow together.

Looking Ahead

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined and to our amazing speakers. 💙

We’re already working on plans for the next BDEN meetup, so keep an eye on our Meetup page for updates. We can’t wait to see you again soon! 🚀

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