Modern Bytecode Instrumentation with ByteBuddy

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The Marco Show

IntelliJ IDEA

9 episodes

4 days ago

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.

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All content for The Marco Show is the property of IntelliJ IDEA and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

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Modern Bytecode Instrumentation with ByteBuddy – Rafael Winterhalter

The Marco Show

1 hour 12 minutes 53 seconds

1 month ago

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