Books
Self-published and co-authored
I’ve worn a few different hats around books. I wrote one on my own, Java Programming for Raspberry Pi , and I contribute to community books like Sustainability for Java Developers .
Java Programming for Raspberry Pi
A Hands-On Guide to Electronics and IoT Projects (2026 edition)
For sale on Leanpub (with continuous free updates) and Amazon!
| Where | Link |
|---|---|
| Leanpub eBook 9.99$ | Leanpub |
| Amazon Kindle eBook | COM UK DE JP AU CA BR |
| Amazon Paperback | COM UK DE JP CA BE |
| Amazon Hardcover | COM UK DE BE NL |
Introduction
When I first managed to blink a LED connected to a Raspberry Pi with Java, I was super excited!
Controlling physical things with some lines of code is magic! This book includes a lot of info and history about Java itself and how to install it on the Raspberry Pi. Also, a lot of tips and tricks to become or be a better developer. And above all many simple examples on these and even more other topics.
My goal was to collect all the information I would have liked to have gathered when I started my experiments with Java on the Raspberry Pi. If you are new to Java, you will learn the language bit by bit by following the examples. As an experienced Java programmer, you will learn how you can extend your knowledge and control the world around you with simple and inexpensive components.
The ebook is available on Leanpub for a pay-as-you-wish price starting at 9.99$. The sources, extra links, and documentation are available for free on GitHub .
The paper book is sold out! Let me know via “javaonraspberry at webtechie dot be”, if you bought the paper version and want a free ebook with all the updates! Share a picture of you with the book, forward me the order confirmation, or use whatever means available to prove you have it. Tip: I know at least one library where you can find it… ;-)
Book content
- The magic of Bits and Bytes and solving the confusion of Java signed values with the help of a LED number display.
- Beautiful user interfaces made with JavaFX so you can interact with the hardware.
- Pi4J applications to control different types of hardware like LEDs, buttons, displays, led strips, relay boards, and many more.
- With additional information regarding the second version of the library, released in 2021.
- And extra JBang examples to get you started with as little code as possible.
- Spring applications to interact with your Pi via web interfaces.
- How to set up a queue to send and receive messages to and from Arduino boards or other Pi’s.
- Interviews with some of my heroes
- Karen Mouws - STEM and diversity
- Trisha Gee - IntelliJ IDEA
- Marit van Dijk - IntelliJ IDEA
- Xiaokai He - Visual Studio Code
- Simon Ritter - Azul Zulu JDK
- Alexander Belokrylov - BellSoft Liberica JDK
- Jakob Jenkov - Java tutorial site on jenkov.com
- Geertjan Wielenga - Foojay.io
- Johan Vos - OpenJFX, JavaFX and GluonHQ
- Gerrit Grunwald - Java, JavaFX, TilesFX
- Robert Savage - Pi4J
- Max Rydahl Andersen - JBang
- Mark Heckler - Spring
- Vlad Mihalcea - JPA, Hibernate
- Almas Baim - FXGL
- And a lot of other inspirational ideas and getting-started examples to be able to build your dream do-it-yourself project.
History
This book was originally published in 2020 with the title “Getting Started with Java on the Raspberry Pi”. It was also available in a paper book version, published by Elektor. After it sold out, I got all rights back to further distribute it in any form I wanted. To get it republished on Amazon, I needed to change the title, so it is now distributed as “Java Programming for Raspberry Pi: A Hands-On Guide to Electronics and IoT Projects (2026 edition)”. If you already bought the epaper book on Leanpub in the original form, you can still get all updates as it is still the same listing on their website.
Sustainability for Java Developers
Towards an Understanding of Sustainable Java Software Development
Free on Leanpub · A collaborative book from the Foojay community.
| Where | Link |
|---|---|
| Leanpub (free) | leanpub.com/sustainabilityforjavadevelopers |
| Foojay announcement | foojay.io/sustainability-for-java-developers |
About the book
Sustainability is more than a buzzword. Sustainability for Java Developers looks at what it actually means to write Java software that is kinder to the planet, fairer to the open-source supply chain, and easier on the people who maintain it long term. The book gathers practical guidance (build caching, Java 25 scripting, efficient data formats) with broader essays on data center impact, ethical open-source choices, mentorship, community involvement, and career longevity in tech.
It is a community effort published through Foojay.io , with chapters contributed by:
- Maarten Mulders
- Geertjan Wielenga
- Frank Delporte
- Simon Martinelli
- Jan Ouwens
- Markus Westergren
- A N M Bazlur Rahman
- Ko Turk
The book is free to download on Leanpub. If you find it useful, leaving a tip there or sharing it with your team is the most direct way to support the contributing authors.
My role on this one
Besides contributing content, I set up the publishing process for this book: the Leanpub project, the writing workflow on GitHub, the build pipeline, and the release schedule. Each author keeps complete control over their own chapter, what to say, how to say it, when to push updates. My job is to remove the publishing friction so the writing stays the fun part, and to keep the book moving forward release after release.