Developer Journey: Accelerating Developer Productivity

by Holly Cummins

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1 IBM TechCon 2026 Session D11  Developer Journey: Accelerating Developer Productivity  Holly Cummins

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developer journey: accelerating developer productivity Holly Cummins Senior Technical Staff Member IBM

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@holly_cummins #IBM

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@holly_cummins #IBM true story (from the internet)

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@holly_cummins #IBM true story (from the internet) paying bonuses for lines of code

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@holly_cummins #IBM

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@holly_cummins #IBM for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++) { // code }

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@holly_cummins #IBM for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++) { // code } for ( var i = 0; i < 10; i++ ) { // code }

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@holly_cummins #IBM the team made comments prettier

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@holly_cummins #IBM the team made comments prettier __ .__ .__ .__ __ _/ |_| |__ |__| ______ |__| ______ _____ ____ ____ _____ _____ ____ _____/ |_ \ __\ | \| |/ ___/ | |/ ___/ \__ \ _/ ___\/ _ \ / \ / \_/ __ \ / \ __\ | | | Y \ |\___ \ | |\___ \ / __ \_ \ \__( <_> ) Y Y \ Y Y \ ___/| | \ | |__| |___| /__/____ > |__/____ > (____ / \___ >____/|__|_| /__|_| /\___ >___| /__| \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/

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@holly_cummins #IBM the experiment lasted one day

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@holly_cummins #IBM

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@holly_cummins #IBM productivity can be hard to measure

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@holly_cummins #IBM productivity can be hard to measure but we know what it feels like

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@holly_cummins #IBM it feels good

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@holly_cummins #IBM

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@holly_cummins #IBM why are you smiling?

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@holly_cummins #IBM why are you smiling? work is not a place to be happy!

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#IBM @holly_cummins ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΈΛΗΣ

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#IBM @holly_cummins «τελειοῖ δὲ τὴν ἐνέργειαν ἡἡδονή» ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΈΛΗΣ

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#IBM @holly_cummins «Η ευχαρίστηση στην δουλειά βάζει την τελειότητα στην εργασία» ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΈΛΗΣ

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#IBM @holly_cummins “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” Aristotle

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#IBM @holly_cummins joy has business value.

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#IBM @holly_cummins the science bit

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#IBM @holly_cummins piglet litters grow faster if they play more https://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/8746156155

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#IBM @holly_cummins job satisfaction is the no. 1 predictor of organizational performance

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#IBM @holly_cummins https://hbr.org/2012/01/positive-intelligence

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#IBM @holly_cummins “Your brain at positive is 31% more productive than your brain at negative, neutral or stressed. " https://hbr.org/2012/01/positive-intelligence

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#IBM @holly_cummins

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#IBM @holly_cummins https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/eproto/workingpapers/happinessproductivity.pdf

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#IBM @holly_cummins "Individuals [who just watched a comedy video] have approximately 12% greater productivity." https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/eproto/workingpapers/happinessproductivity.pdf

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#IBM @holly_cummins how can we make development feel good?

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#IBM @holly_cummins inner & outer loop development

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#IBM @holly_cummins inner & outer loop development Developer

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#IBM @holly_cummins inner & outer loop development Developer

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#IBM @holly_cummins inner & outer loop development Inner loop Developer Test Build / Package Code Push Debug

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#IBM @holly_cummins inner & outer loop development Production Inner loop Developer Test Build / Package Code Push Debug

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#IBM @holly_cummins inner & outer loop development Production Inner loop Developer Test Build / Package Code Push Debug

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#IBM @holly_cummins inner & outer loop development Production Inner loop Developer Test Build / Package Code Push Debug

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#IBM @holly_cummins inner & outer loop development Production Inner loop Developer Test Build / Package Code Push Debug

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#IBM @holly_cummins inner & outer loop development Production Inner loop Outer loop Developer Test Code Review Build Deploy Security Tests Compliance Build / Package Code Push Debug

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#IBM @holly_cummins inner & outer loop development Pull/Merge Request Production Inner loop Outer loop Developer Test Code Review Build Deploy Security Tests Compliance Build / Package Code Push Debug

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#IBM @holly_cummins what makes a good inner loop?

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#IBM @holly_cummins -fast feedback what makes a good inner loop?

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#IBM @holly_cummins -fast feedback -low cognitive load what makes a good inner loop?

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#IBM @holly_cummins -fast feedback -low cognitive load -low setup costs what makes a good inner loop?

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#IBM @holly_cummins -fast feedback -low cognitive load -low setup costs -fast start -live reload what makes a good inner loop?

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#IBM @holly_cummins -fast feedback -low cognitive load -low setup costs -fast start -live reload -expressive APIs what makes a good inner loop?

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#IBM @holly_cummins it’s all about quick feedback loops

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#IBM @holly_cummins

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔ fast start

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔ fast start ✔

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔ fast start ✔ ✔

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔ fast start ✔ ✔ web console

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔ fast start ✔ ✔ web console ✔

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔ fast start ✔ ✔ web console ✔ ✔

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔ fast start ✔ ✔ web console ✔ ✔ live reload

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔ fast start ✔ ✔ web console ✔ ✔ live reload ✔

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔ fast start ✔ ✔ web console ✔ ✔ live reload ✔ ✔

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔ fast start ✔ ✔ web console ✔ ✔ live reload ✔ ✔ support for standards

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔ fast start ✔ ✔ web console ✔ ✔ live reload ✔ ✔ support for standards ✔

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#IBM @holly_cummins websphere liberty quarkus small memory footprint ✔ ✔ fast start ✔ ✔ web console ✔ ✔ live reload ✔ ✔ support for standards ✔ ✔

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#IBM @holly_cummins why developers are like clouds

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#IBM @holly_cummins Demo: Dev Services

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@holly_cummins #IBM let’s talk about quarkus

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#IBM @holly_cummins

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live coding

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live coding less dev time wasted waiting for full build + launch cycles

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#IBM @holly_cummins

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#IBM @holly_cummins easy… right?

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#IBM @holly_cummins

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#IBM @holly_cummins what about external dependencies?

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#IBM @holly_cummins what about external dependencies? -database

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#IBM @holly_cummins what about external dependencies? -database -messaging system

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#IBM @holly_cummins what about external dependencies? -database -messaging system -observability stack

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#IBM @holly_cummins https://testcontainers.org

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#IBM @holly_cummins Dev Services ❤

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#IBM @holly_cummins Demo: Dev Services

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#IBM @holly_cummins

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#IBM @holly_cummins

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boilerplate code

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@holly_cummins #IBM

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@holly_cummins #IBM I don’t need a nice programming model anymore, AI will vibe- code it all

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@holly_cummins #IBM context costs

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@holly_cummins #IBM human-in-the-loop code review costs

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@holly_cummins #IBM we spent far more time reading code than writing it

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@holly_cummins #IBM Pull/Merge Request Outer loop Code Review Build Deploy Security Tests Compliance

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@holly_cummins #IBM https://www.cjroth.com/blog/2026-02-18-building-an-elite-engineering-culture pr review time increased 91% in high AI-adoption teams

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@holly_cummins #IBM code isn’t an asset it’s a liability

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@holly_cummins #IBM the dream

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@holly_cummins #IBM don’t make humans tell the computer what the computer already knows the dream

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@holly_cummins #IBM don’t make humans tell the computer what the computer already knows the dream is now achievable

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@holly_cummins #IBM package com.example; import org.jboss.logging.Logger; public class Thing { private static final Logger log = Logger.getLogger(Thing.class); public void doSomething() { log.info("It works!"); } }

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@holly_cummins #IBM public String hello(@QueryParam("name") String name) {

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@holly_cummins #IBM public String hello(@RestQuery String name) {

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#IBM @holly_cummins testcontainers integration … without quarkus @TestConfiguration(proxyBeanMethods = false) public class ContainersConfig { @Bean @ServiceConnection public PostgreSQLContainer postgres() { return new PostgreSQLContainer<>(DockerImageName.parse("postgres:14")); } } public class TestApplication { public static void main(String[] args) { SpringApplication .from(MySpringDataApplication::main) .with(ContainersConfig.class) .run(args); } } @Import(ContainersConfig.class)

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#IBM @holly_cummins testcontainers integration … without quarkus quarkus

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#IBM @holly_cummins what if… you could inherit boilerplate Hibernate queries from a superclass, instead of having to write them all? example: hibernate

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@holly_cummins #IBM @ApplicationScoped public class GreetingRepository { public Entity findByName(int name) { return find("name", name).firstResult(); } void persist(Entity entity) {} void delete(Entity entity) {} Entity findById(Id id) {} List list(String query, Sort sort, Object... params) { return null; } Stream stream(String query, Object... params) { return null; } long count() { return 0; } long count(String query, Object... params) { return 0; } } example: hibernate with panache

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@holly_cummins #IBM DAO @ApplicationScoped public class GreetingRepository implements PanacheRepository { public Entity findByName(int name) { return find("name", name).firstResult(); } } example: hibernate with panache

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@holly_cummins #IBM this isn’t using gen AI to automate code generation this is making the need for the code go away

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@holly_cummins #IBM of course … MCP

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@holly_cummins #IBM no matter how you create it … code doesn’t count unless it gets to prod

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#IBM @holly_cummins Pull/Merge Request Production Inner loop Outer loop Developer Test Code Review Build Deploy Security Tests Compliance Build / Package Code Push Debug

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#IBM @holly_cummins Pull/Merge Request Production Inner loop Outer loop Developer Test Code Review Build Deploy Security Tests Compliance Build / Package Code Push Debug code doesn’t count unless it gets to prod

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@holly_cummins #IBM security manageability observability

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#IBM @holly_cummins Demo: Dev Services

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@holly_cummins #IBM the bigger picture

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@holly_cummins #IBM the perils of toil

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#IBM @holly_cummins get rid of boring stuff

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#IBM @holly_cummins it’s probably waste get rid of boring stuff

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#IBM @holly_cummins it’s probably waste get rid of boring stuff

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@holly_cummins #IBM

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@holly_cummins #IBM repetitive

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@holly_cummins #IBM meaningless repetitive

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@holly_cummins #IBM meaningless repetitive

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@holly_cummins #IBM low-value meaningless repetitive

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@holly_cummins #IBM low-value meaningless repetitive repetitive

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@holly_cummins #IBM low-value meaningless repetitive repetitive repetitive

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@holly_cummins #IBM low-value meaningless repetitive repetitive repetitive

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@holly_cummins #IBM low-value meaningless repetitive repetitive repetitive redundant

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@holly_cummins #IBM low-value meaningless repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive redundant

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@holly_cummins #IBM repetitive low-value meaningless repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive redundant

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@holly_cummins #IBM repetitive low-value meaningless repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive redundant