The Marco Show

IntelliJ IDEA

The Marco Show is a bi-weekly podcast about AI, coding, and developer tools — hosted by Marco Behler, Developer Advocate for Java at JetBrains. Before JetBrains, Marco ran a consultancy in Munich, working with clients like BMW, Wirecard, and KVB, and built software at BWSO (now tresmo). He’s also a Java and Spring trainer, conference speaker, and writer of guides, courses, and videos. Each episode brings real conversations with tech people who actually build things: opposing opinions, hot takes, and useful insights for developers who want to go deeper. New episodes every other Wednesday.

  1. JobRunr: Java Job Scheduling, OSS Monetization, $17K Deals – Ronald Dehuysser

    1 DAY AGO

    JobRunr: Java Job Scheduling, OSS Monetization, $17K Deals – Ronald Dehuysser

    Ronald Dehuysser, creator of JobRunr, joins Marco to talk about distributed job scheduling in Java, building a high-throughput background processing framework, and turning an open-source side project into a profitable business. They dive into what really happens when microservices lack distributed tracing, why dead letter queues can silently lose invoices, how JobRunr scales to thousands of jobs per second, and what it takes to monetize open source in the Java ecosystem.  💡In this episode: Distributed job scheduling and background processing in Java JobRunr architecture and high-throughput performance Quartz vs modern scheduling approaches Retries, exponential backoff, and reliability patterns Dead letter queues and observability challenges Microservices vs monoliths in enterprise systems Monetizing open source and pro licensing models Enterprise sales and scaling a developer product Burnout, sustainability, and building a team AI, LLMs, and the future of junior developers ⏱️Timestamps (00:00) Teaser(00:48) Who's Ronald Dehuysser and what's JobRunr(01:37) From enterprise dev to freelancing (and switching to .NET)(11:19) Job scheduling pain and birth of JobRunr(16:21) Quitting, COVID, and building the first version(28:48) First customers and monetizing open source(40:13) Big enterprise deal and going full-time(47:16) Burnout, Vipassana, hiring, and building a team(53:20) Sustainability features and the future of JobRunr(56:08) AI, junior developers, the future of coding(01:07:28) Giveaway and Rapid-fire questions New episodes every other Wednesday. Subscribe for more developer-focused conversations. 🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9Zgw_0kVFk8

    1h 10m
  2. Java Performance Myths: JIT vs AOT, GraalVM, Performance Engineering – Thomas Wuerthinger

    11 FEB

    Java Performance Myths: JIT vs AOT, GraalVM, Performance Engineering – Thomas Wuerthinger

    Episode description:Thomas Wuerthinger, Founder and Project Lead of GraalVM and Vice President at Oracle, joins Marco to unpack how modern Java runtimes actually work. They explore why duplicating compilers and garbage collectors across languages is a waste of engineering effort, how GraalVM grew from a research project into production technology, and why Native Image unexpectedly became its most impactful feature. 💡 In this episode: GraalVM, Native Image, and Java performance JIT vs AOT and predictable runtime behavior Polyglot runtimes and shared memory models Cloud-native Java, startup time, and memory footprint Performance lessons from the One Billion Row Challenge Branch misprediction and hardware-level bottlenecks Research vs product engineering AI in compilers and testing 🕐 Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:09) Meet Thomas Wuerthinger & what GraalVM really is (03:31) Why duplicating language runtimes is a waste (06:08) How GraalVM started at Sun Microsystems Labs (10:26) Writing an interpreter and getting a JIT “for free” (14:26) Going open source and finding real users (16:48) Why Native Image took off (23:02) From research project to real product (26:56) Native Image, Spring, Quarkus, and Java in the cloud (35:38) Why JIT performance can be unpredictable (39:31) When JIT still makes sense (43:02) Python, JavaScript, and polyglot runtimes (46:16) Using AI in compilers and testing (01:04:06) The One Billion Row Challenge (01:09:50) Branch misprediction and performance surprises (01:13:26) How to think about performance optimization (01:25:33) Giveaway question (01:27:11) Rapid fire and wrap-up New episodes every other Wednesday. Subscribe for in-depth conversations on software engineering, performance, and developer tools. 🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/naO1Up63I7Q

    1h 31m
  3. From Google to Indie Dev: Mac Apps, Subscriptions, AI Coding – Daniel Gräfe

    28 JAN

    From Google to Indie Dev: Mac Apps, Subscriptions, AI Coding – Daniel Gräfe

    Daniel Gräfe, founder of Timing and Cotypist, joins Marco to talk about the realities of indie software development after leaving Big Tech. They discuss turning side projects into a real business, risky rewrites, subscription pricing, and how AI fits into day-to-day coding and support. Daniel shares lessons from more than a decade of building and maintaining Mac apps, including what worked, what didn’t, and why sustainability matters more than quick wins. A grounded conversation for developers thinking about indie SaaS, side projects, or life beyond a full-time engineering role. 💡 Topics in this episode: Leaving Google to go indie Side projects vs running a business Rewriting a product from scratch Subscription pricing decisions B2B vs B2C tradeoffs Using AI in everyday development Long-term maintenance and sustainability 🕑 Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (04:08) Timing, CoTypist, and Daniel’s background (05:30) Early side projects and first Mac apps (13:16) Getting into Google (20:02) Promotion, performance, Big Tech reality (27:33) Quitting Google and going indie (28:27) Rewriting Timing from scratch (37:52) Launch day, sales, and burnout (46:37) Subscriptions and pricing decisions (54:13) Using AI for coding and support (01:03:34) Advice for aspiring indie developers (01:12:10) Agency vs intelligence (01:13:22) Giveaway + outro New episodes every other Wednesday. Subscribe for more developer-focused conversations. 🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/t4DkaadHLnI

    1h 12m
  4. Are Integrated Tests a Scam? TDD, Architecture, Fast Feedback – J. B. Rainsberger

    14 JAN

    Are Integrated Tests a Scam? TDD, Architecture, Fast Feedback – J. B. Rainsberger

    J. B. Rainsberger, TDD coach and software consultant, joins Marco to challenge common assumptions about software testing. They discuss why JB argues that “integrated tests are a scam,” how testing choices affect design and refactoring, and what teams get wrong when they rely too heavily on end-to-end tests. The conversation draws on decades of real-world experience working with development teams of all sizes. 💡 Topics in this episode: What “integrated tests” really are and why they cause problems Micro tests, fast feedback, and confidence-driven testing When deleting tests is the right decision How tests create pressure on system design Collaboration and contract tests explained Why there is no single testing best practice Practical advice for junior and senior developers New episodes every other Wednesday. Subscribe for more developer-focused conversations. ⏰ Timestamps: (00:00) Teaser (01:24) Intro (02:44) How J. B. got into testing (06:12) What “integrated tests” actually mean (10:42) Stop asking “what’s the right test size?” (13:22) Removing irrelevant details from tests (15:30) Refactoring, coupling, and deleting tests (18:08) “There’s no best practice.” (23:52) Old TDD books and timeless ideas (26:01) Collaboration and contract tests explained (33:53) “99.5% of your tests can be micro tests” (46:21) Do you want to be right or solve the problem? (01:00:48) Advice for junior developers (01:19:32) Testing strategy distilled (01:23:58) Manual QA testing (01:29:44) Giveaway (01:33:15) Rapid fire and outro 🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/j0NjFsb-at8

    1h 34m
  5. Season Finale: Giveaway Winners & Q&A with Marco

    22/12/2025

    Season Finale: Giveaway Winners & Q&A with Marco

    The first season of The Marco Show has officially come to an end! In this Christmas special episode, we’re announcing all of our giveaway winners and wrapping up the season with a fun Q&A with Marco. 🎁 Giveaway winners: If you’re one of the winners featured in this episode, please reach out to us at themarcoshow@jetbrains.com and let us know what you’d prefer: a 1-year license to one of our JetBrains products, or a coupon for the JetBrains merch store. Timestamps: (00:00) Season Finale Intro & What to Expect (00:34) LLMs with Jodie Burchell: giveaway winner (01:08) Software performance with Casey: giveaway winner (01:39) Hibernate with Gavin King: giveaway winner (02:15) Flyway with Axel Fontaine: giveaway winner (02:45) SQL with Torben: giveaway winner (03:16) Quarkus with Kevin Dubois: giveaway winner (03:46) Jetty with Ludovic: giveaway winner (04:18) ByteBuddy with Rafael: giveaway winner (04:52) How to claim your prize (05:08) Q&A with Marco (09:35) Outro and meet the team Thank you to everyone who watched, listened, and supported the show this season. We truly appreciate it. See you next year! New episodes every other Wednesday. Subscribe for more developer-focused conversations. 🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hZemYWNKa6I

    10 min
  6. Modern Bytecode Instrumentation with ByteBuddy – Rafael Winterhalter

    10/12/2025

    Modern Bytecode Instrumentation with ByteBuddy – Rafael Winterhalter

    Rafael Winterhalter, creator of ByteBuddy and long-time Java consultant, joins Marco to break down the hidden world of JVM bytecode instrumentation. They discuss how ByteBuddy powers tools like Mockito and Hibernate, why legacy Java still dominates enterprise systems, and what it’s really like maintaining a massive open-source project as a single developer. 💡 Topics in this episode: How ByteBuddy works and why frameworks rely on it JVM bugs, JIT issues, and surprises from instrumentation Supporting legacy Java (5, 6, 8…) in modern environments Open-source sustainability and avoiding burnout Java modules, unsafe, and evolving with new JDK releases Rethinking Java build tools and software engineering complexity 🕑 Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:10) Rafael’s background & the origin of ByteBuddy (03:00) What ByteBuddy does and why it matters (04:32) Replacing CGLIB and early challenges (07:05) ByteBuddy’s design philosophy (09:15) Mockito, Hibernate and real-world adoption (13:14) Open source reality (15:48) Performance myths and JVM behavior (18:47) JVM bugs, JIT issues and instrumentation pitfalls (21:11) Supporting legacy Java in enterprise (23:56) Testing ByteBuddy across many JDKs (25:53) Why companies still run Java 5/6 (28:25) Engineering vs economics (30:39) Modules, unsafe and evolving with Java (36:12) Maintaining a one-person project (39:31) Conferences and developer evangelism (42:02) Consulting vs product engineering (49:51) Burnout and sustainability (52:02) Thoughts on AI in software development (57:13) Rethinking Java build tools (01:05:07) Build security and dependency risks (01:10:16) Giveaway (01:10:48) Rapid fire and outro New episodes every other Wednesday. Subscribe for more developer-focused conversations. 🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/AzfhxgkBL9s

    1h 13m
  7. Scaling the Web: Lessons from Jetty, Bitronix, Terracotta, Quartz – Ludovic Orban

    26/11/2025

    Scaling the Web: Lessons from Jetty, Bitronix, Terracotta, Quartz – Ludovic Orban

    Episode description: Ludovic Orban (Jetty Maintainer and Performance Engineer at WebTide) joins Marco to break down what “web scale” really means, why most systems don’t need Google-level architecture, and how modern Java servers achieve massive throughput. From Jetty’s design philosophy to multi-core CPU realities, distributed transactions, Terracotta’s wild JVM clustering experiments, and the limits of AI-generated code, this episode dives deep into how high-performance Java is built today. 💡 In this episode: What “web scale” actually means for real-world systems Jetty vs Tomcat and how Jetty became a fast, modern web server CPU evolution, memory bottlenecks, and multi-core performance Distributed transactions, XA pitfalls, and compensating patterns Terracotta’s clustered JVM: engineering lessons and war stories Why developers struggle with performance (and how to learn it) AI, coding assistance, and why Ludovic doesn’t trust generated code ⏱️ Timestamps: (00:00) Teaser (01:10) Who is Ludovic Orban? (02:04) What “web scale” really means, and who actually needs it (03:54) How hardware changes reshaped software performance (06:28) Cloud, containers, and why performance still matters (07:28) Jetty vs Tomcat: history, adoption & performance (10:47) What makes Jetty “fast” in practice (13:21) How the Jetty team prioritizes performance (15:10) Recent work: fixing complex HTTP/2 bugs (16:38) How WebTide supports customers beyond Jetty issues (17:52) Bitronix: Why Ludovic built his own transaction manager (20:45) Open-source challenges. The rise and fall of Bitronix (24:19) Distributed transactions vs compensating transactions (27:07) Where to learn more: Atomikos and modern approaches (28:25) Terracotta: clustering JVMs and wild engineering stories (31:20) What Terracotta taught him about the JVM (33:48) Real-world Java performance mistakes developers make (40:22) Why learning performance is so hard (45:40) Kubernetes, abstraction, and performance visibility (48:50) Hardware that excites Ludovic: Oxide Computer (50:42) His take on AI and why he doesn’t trust generated code (53:30) Lessons from Jetty, Terracotta, Bitronix, and Quartz (56:10) Rapid-fire questions (01:01:15) Giveaway and outro New episodes every other Wednesday. Subscribe for more deep, developer-focused conversations. 🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fJvg5zTKHeE

    1h 2m
  8. Growing Quarkus in a Spring Boot World – Kevin Dubois (IBM)

    12/11/2025

    Growing Quarkus in a Spring Boot World – Kevin Dubois (IBM)

    Kevin Dubois (IBM Developer Advocate, Quarkus Team) joins Marco to explore how Quarkus is reinventing Java for the modern cloud era, and why it’s not about killing Spring Boot. From startup times to developer experience, microservices, AI, and GraalVM, this episode dives into where Java is heading in 2025 and beyond. 💡 Topics in this episode: The origins of Quarkus and why it exists Spring Boot dominance and migration trends Hot reload, Dev UI, and developer experience Cloud-native Java, containers, and serverless GraalVM and the future of native Java Java’s role in the age of AI New episodes every other Wednesday. Subscribe for more deep, developer-focused conversations. 🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IRqTbgC2JLU ⏱️ Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:12) Why Quarkus was created (it’s not about killing Spring) (04:45) How Quarkus compares to Spring Boot today (08:30) Developer experience: hot reloads, Dev UI, and that “aha” moment (13:05) Quarkus in the cloud: Kubernetes, containers, and serverless (18:20) Native compilation vs JVM: when (and when not) to use it (24:00) MicroProfile, Jakarta EE, and open specs (28:35) The future of Java: monoliths, microservices, and AI (33:10) How IBM is investing in Quarkus and the Java ecosystem (37:25) Agentic AI, LangChain4J, and practical use cases (42:10) Rapid-fire questions (46:15) Giveaway question + closing thoughts

    48 min
See All (13)

About

The Marco Show is a bi-weekly podcast about AI, coding, and developer tools — hosted by Marco Behler, Developer Advocate for Java at JetBrains. Before JetBrains, Marco ran a consultancy in Munich, working with clients like BMW, Wirecard, and KVB, and built software at BWSO (now tresmo). He’s also a Java and Spring trainer, conference speaker, and writer of guides, courses, and videos. Each episode brings real conversations with tech people who actually build things: opposing opinions, hot takes, and useful insights for developers who want to go deeper. New episodes every other Wednesday.

Information

  • Creator
    IntelliJ IDEA
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © IntelliJ IDEA
  • Show Website
    The Marco Show

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