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Explore the upcoming Valhalla project milestone in this 56-minute conference talk that examines Java's evolution toward value classes and enhanced null safety. Learn about the first phase of Valhalla, which introduces the ability to declare classes as value classes that function as lightweight boxes capable of "scalarizing" themselves on the stack to avoid traditional boxing costs. Discover how the project's next phase will enable value classes to be flattened into fields, requiring the elimination of null as a possible value. Analyze both the opportunities and limitations of improving Java's null reference handling through nullness notation using '?' and/or '!' symbols. Gain insights into the future direction of null safety in Java from Rémi Forax, a Java Champion, researcher, and Associate Professor at Gustave Eiffel University who specializes in JVM internals, programming languages, and compiler design.
