Igor De Souza on foojay.io - Friends of OpenJDK

Using the Raspberry Pi Sense HAT with Pi4J Drivers

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 08:38:00 +0000

One of the biggest advantages of the Pi4J Drivers project is the ability to interact with complex hardware through simple and intuitive Java APIs. A great example of this is the Raspberry Pi Sense HAT, one of the most popular Raspberry Pi add-on boards and the hardware platform used in the Astro Pi program aboard the International Space Station.

Instead of manually implementing communication with multiple sensors and devices, Pi4J Drivers provides a ready-to-use driver that makes accessing the Sense HAT straightforward and enjoyable.

Pi4J Drivers: Simplifying Sensor and Hardware Integration in Java

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 07:07:08 +0000

When developing Java applications for Raspberry Pi, Pi4J is one of the most popular libraries for accessing GPIO, I2C, SPI, PWM, and other hardware interfaces. However, interacting directly with these protocols often requires a significant amount of code and a deep understanding of the underlying hardware.

This is where the Pi4J Drivers library become extremely valuable.

What is Pi4J Drivers?

Pi4J Drivers is a companion project to Pi4J that provides ready-to-use drivers for a wide range of electronic components, including sensors, displays, I/O expanders, and actuators. Instead of implementing low-level communication from scratch, developers can leverage tested and reusable APIs to interact with hardware devices.

Bringing Raspberry Pi Development to Quarkus with the Quarkus Pi4J Extension

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Java developers building applications for Raspberry Pi often face a common challenge: combining hardware access with modern application frameworks.

Pi4J has become the standard way to access GPIO, I2C, SPI, UART, and other Raspberry Pi interfaces from Java applications. On the other hand, Quarkus has established itself as one of the most innovative Java frameworks, offering fast startup times, low memory consumption, and a developer-friendly experience.

The Quarkus Pi4J Extension brings these two worlds together, making it easier than ever to build hardware-enabled applications using the Quarkus ecosystem.

Java is Not the Dark Side: Why Learning Java is Easier Than You Think

Thu, 07 May 2026 08:44:23 +0000

Every year on May 4th, fans around the world celebrate Star Wars Day with the iconic phrase “May the 4th be with you.” The following day, May 5th, is often recognized as “Revenge of the Fifth”, a playful nod to Revenge of the Sith, where many embrace the darker side of the Force and celebrate iconic Sith Lords and villains.

So, this week is ideal for talking about one of the most misunderstood technologies in programming: Java.

Does Java Really Use Too Much Memory? Let’s Look at the Facts (JEPs)

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 07:28:09 +0000

Breaking news: Java has been confirmed to consume all available RAM. Developers worldwide shocked.

… okay, not really. Happy April 1st.

It’s only fair to bring in the biggest liar in history to help us talk about one of the oldest myths in the Java world.

Meet Pinocchio Duke, the official Java mascot who swears up and down that “Java doesn’t use that much memory anymore!”

But every time he says it… his nose grows a little longer.

The Java in Education Catalog Now Has a Beautiful Home

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:17:41 +0000

A few weeks ago, Igor De Souza shared Bringing Java Closer to Education: A Community-Driven Initiative here on Foojay. It’s something we started together to gather Java educational resources in one place, making it easier for mentors, educators, and learners to discover what’s out there.

But let’s be honest: a GitHub README, while perfectly functional, is not exactly the most inviting front door for educators who aren’t already deep in the coding ecosystem. That’s now fixed…

Gotta Code 'Em All: How Java Evolved Beyond Verbosity – Celebrating 30 Years of Pokémon

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 09:57:35 +0000

Happy 30th Anniversary to Pokémon! 🎉

February 27, 2026 marks exactly 30 years since the original Pokémon Red and Green launched in Japan on February 27, 1996. From catching your first Pokémon in Pallet Town to becoming Champion in the Indigo League, the franchise has spent three decades teaching millions of players about strategy, friendship, exploration, and constant improvement, evolving creatures, teams, and even entire generations of games.

Pokémon is literally all about evolution and that same spirit of evolution perfectly matches what’s happening in Java right now.

The Triforce That Slays Legacy Java Myths – Happy 40th Zelda!

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 18:13:03 +0000

Happy 40th Anniversary to The Legend of Zelda! 🎉🗡️

Today, February 21, 2026, marks exactly 40 years since the original game launched in Japan on February 21, 1986. From the humble 8-bit NES adventure to the breathtaking open worlds of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda has constantly reinvented itself. Zelda evolved.

And that spirit perfectly mirrors what’s happening in the Java world right now. Java evolved.

Bringing Java Closer to Education: A Community-Driven Initiative

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 18:02:20 +0000

Over the past decades, Java has proven itself to be one of the most reliable, versatile, and widely used programming languages in the world. From enterprise systems to mobile applications and embedded devices, Java continues to evolve and adapt. Yet, one important area still holds enormous untapped potential: education.

This initiative was born from a simple but powerful idea: to aggregate Java-related educational content in a way that helps newcomers get started, supports educators, and encourages new Java initiatives focused on learning. By making Java more accessible and visible in educational environments, we strengthen not only the language itself, but the entire ecosystem around it.

Foojay Podcast #85: Code, Community, and Opportunity: Making Tech Accessible for Everyone

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 06:07:00 +0000

What if the future of Java depends on who we invite to learn it today?

In this Foojay Podcast, we’re diving into something that affects all of us in the Java community: How can we inspire the next generation of developers, and how do we make the developer world more inclusive?

In this episode, you’ll hear four incredible guests who are actively working to make tech more accessible and inclusive. First, Daniel De Luca talks about Devoxx for Kids and how they support underprivileged students in IT education. Then Kenny Schwegler shares his insights on how we can actively promote diversity and inclusion in tech. Cassandra Chin, the youngest Java Champion and author, talks about inspiring young coders through hands-on projects and making technology fun. And finally, Igor De Souza discusses his mission to bring Java into Raspberry Pi education and bring more Java into coding clubs worldwide.

Foojay Podcast #44: Quarkus Club

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 08:25:41 +0000

Once a month in this podcast, we talk about the history of a Java User Group and the people behind it.

In this episode, we have a special group as we visit the virtual Quarkus Club.

Did you know? The Quarkus Club initiative started less than a year ago and is already one of the biggest groups in the world dedicated to Quarkus!

Video

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Foojay Podcast #22: When Profession and Fun Overlap

Mon, 15 May 2023 07:47:29 +0000

Let’s talk about programming for fun. Grab your Lego and robots, and let’s talk about STEM and STEAM!

As a developer, we all get frustrated occasionally when a bug messes up our schedule, and we have to dive deep into the code to find a solution.

But still, many of us keep coding in our free time as we love to do it and want to create amazing stuff.

In this episode of the Foojay Podcast, we talk to volunteers from different organizations where coding is used to inspire children to become engineers or at least learn to make good use of computers and the tools around them.

Control your Arduino with Spring

Sat, 25 Mar 2023 07:21:04 +0000

Have you ever wanted to control your Arduino board from a Raspberry Pi, or your computer, using only Java and not the Arduino language?

In this article, I show how I created a web app to control my Arduino with a Raspberry PI using Spring. And so this is another article about Java on Raspberry PI or perhaps this time I can say Java and Arduino.

Idea

A simple Spring app where I can create a REST interface to control one of the Arduino GPIOs. I can plug a LED and build a simple blink LED example.

Controlling an LCD Display with Spring and Thymeleaf on the Raspberry Pi

Wed, 19 May 2021 07:10:12 +0000

Igor De Souza shares on his blog a lot fun and inspirational experiments with Java on Raspberry Pi. Some of those were already shared here on Foojay.io:

This time we want to highlight his work which combines a web app made with Spring and Thymeleaf, to control an LCD display connected to a Raspberry PI.

Vert.x Example on the Raspberry Pi with a Virtual Potentiometer

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 08:35:52 +0000

The Raspberry Pi allows us to do a lot of electronic projects without having to wait for ordered components… or to even buy them at all… by using virtual components: “Invest your time before you invest your money and build something before you buy the component.” For example, If you don’t have a 7 segment display you can follow this and if you don’t have an 8×8 Led Matrix you can follow this and so on.

Electronics & Micronaut Velocity with Raspberry Pi

Tue, 06 Oct 2020 08:35:45 +0000

In a previous post, we looked at the project “Electronics & Quarkus Qute on Raspberry Pi ” by Igor De Souza .

In this article, we present you another great example of Java on Raspberry Pi created by Igor. It shows how to create a Micronaut Velocity demo using an 8x8 LED matrix display.

Micronaut

Micronaut is a JVM-based framework for building lightweight, modular applications. Developed by OCI , the same company that created Grails , Micronaut is the latest framework designed to make creating microservices quick and easy.

Electronics & Quarkus Qute on Raspberry Pi

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 08:07:13 +0000

The “Hello World” version of electronics programming is a blinking LED. But, in this post, we will go a few steps further and control 8 LEDs inside a number display.

We will do this by taking a closer look at one of the projects in the list “Spectacular Java Projects on the Raspberry Pi ”.

Igor De Souza , Dublin based Principal Big Data Consultant at Oracle, set up an interesting experiment in which he combines a LED number display with the Raspberry Pi and Quarkus.