This year's JavaOne Conference takes place in San Francisco from September 30 to October 4 - and you can  register in advance online until Friday September 28.

JavaOne is the event at which Oracle and its partners present the latest in tools, technologies, and best practices for Java developers and it is bound to attract loads of attention. As Steve Meloan points out in his preview:

With 9 million Java developers worldwide, 5 billion Java cards in use, 3 billion mobile phones running Java, 1 billion Java downloads each year, and 100 percent of Blu-ray disk players and 97 percent of enterprise desktops running Java, Java is a technology that literally permeates our world.

While the keynote sessions will be important for news of developments both current and future, the technical tracks enable developers to take a "deep dive" into  technologies and techniques. This year there are seven of them:

• Core Java Platform
• Development Tools and Techniques
• Emerging Languages on the JVM
• Enterprise Service Architectures and the Cloud
• Java EE Web Profile and Platform Technologies
• Java ME, Java Card, Embedded, and Devices
• JavaFX and Rich User Experiences

If you are a seasoned Java programmer you wont need telling about JavaOne but this year it looks as if there wont be the excitement of recent years. Java 7 is behind us and Java 8 is in the future. Java EE 7 is still causing concerns over whether it will be available in spring 2013 and we can expect more information at JavaOne. James Gosling, the father of Java has been awarded a Duke's Choice and after he didn't turn up at last years JavaOne because of his disapproval of the Oracle take over the question is will he attend this year - if only to collect his award.

I doubt there are any big surprises in store and this might be a good thing. Oracles rough initial ride into the Java world is probably over for now and we can concentrate on consolidation and steady development. There aren't even any silly videos trying to convince you to go - which is probably another good thing.