The Java Champions program is an effort to recognize leaders in the Java community. The program is sponsored by Oracle (formerly Sun Microsystems). Part of the program is communication and collaboration with other Java Champions and Oracle representatives to exchange experience and give feedback on future directions of development of the Java platform as well as the languages on the Java platform.
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Membership and organization
According to the group, members come from a broad cross-section of the Java community including:
The Champions program is strictly independent of Oracle and its membership is voted on by the Champions themselves. The program is organized on the java.net site, where also a full list of the current Java Champions can be found. Some Java Champions are Alumni due to voluntary retirement from the program or because they currently work for Oracle.
Famous Java Champions
Notable Java Champions include James Gosling, Joshua Bloch, Doug Lea, Bruce Eckel, Rod Johnson, William Pugh, Kathy Sierra, James Strachan, Michael Kölling and Johan Granlund
Notable activities
In 2006, the Java Champions supported Michael Kölling in his attempts to get Microsoft to withdraw their patent application that would have stopped BlueJ. The friendly exchange between the Java Champions and their counterparts in Microsoft resulted in the withdrawal of the patent applications.