SouJava is a Brazilian Java User Group created to promote the

Java programming language Java is a high-level, class-based, object-oriented programming language that is designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It is a general-purpose programming language intended to let programmers ''write once, run an ...

and other Open Source initiatives. It's recognized as the world's largest Java User Group with 40,000 members.

History

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian Java User Group SouJava was founded in September 1999 by Bruno Souza (JavaMan) and Einar Saukas. It was first registered officially as a technology group in Sucesu-SP (association of technology groups in Brazil), then later publicly announced in a press conference at October 29, 1999. The name (also spelled as SOUJava) is an acronym for "Sociedade de Usuarios Java" ("Java Users Society"), and "Sou Java" also means "I'm Java" in Portuguese. Since the beginning, SouJava has always been a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

supported by volunteer work, quite known by the enthusiasm of its members. It initially had a flat management structure (''President'' and ''VP'' were originally ''Director'' and ''Associate Director'' in the original announcement press release, everybody else were simply referred as "members" except for a ''Technical Coordinator'') but quickly migrated to a more formal model as membership grew rapidly. On November 28, 2004, SouJava acquired

Non-Governmental Organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

status upon reaching almost 18,000 members and got recognized as the world's largest Java User Group. In 2011, SouJava became the first Java User Group nominated for the

Java Community Process The Java Community Process (JCP), established in 1998, is a formalized mechanism that allows interested parties to develop standard technical specifications for Java technology. Anyone can become a JCP Member by filling a form available at thJCP we ...

Executive Committee, as Java Community Process Expert Group Member. The following year, it was awarded as Java Community Process Member/Participant of the Year. Over the years, SouJava has organized several Java conferences in Brazil, and it helped influence the adoption of open source by the Brazilian government (mainly by leading an open standards and platforms manifesto, organizing Javali at FISL, and working together with the Brazilian Federal Government's Information Technology National Institute ), which in turn forced

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, ...

to open-source Java. It's also the co-creator, together with London Java User Group, of "Adopt a JSR" program, an effort to encourage JUG members and the wider Java community to get involved in JSRs SouJava is headquartered in

Sao Paulo SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U. ...

, with branches in

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's population is 1,213,792, making it the fourteenth most populous Brazilian ...

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and Brasilia.

Leadership

Executive leadership positions are voluntary and unpaid, elected by the director's board. SouJava mandates are listed below: * 1999-2003: ''President'' Einar Saukas, ''Vice-President'' Jefferson Conz (Floyd), ''Technical Coordinator'' Bruno Souza (JavaMan).

Honors and awards

* Java Community Process Member/Participant of the Year 2011: Nominated * Java Community Process Member/Participant of the Year 2012: Winner * Outstanding Adopt-a-JSR Participant of the Year 2013: Recognized * Java Community Process Member/Participant of the Year 2014: Nominated

References

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External links

Official SouJava website
Java (programming language) User groups