Java language evolution has switched into a new gear. Java is being released every 6 months, with "preview" features that let everyone test and, supposedly, give feedback on new language ideas.
However, I cannot find how to actually give that feedback! Take as an example JEP 305, "Pattern matching for instanceof" being introduced as a preview feature in Java 14. The JIRA page has no comments. I suppose I could send emails to developer mailing lists, but that seems too heavy-handed.
How can I contribute to the development of Java by submitting my unsolicited 2 cents?
The JIRA page for the JEP lists which mailing list is appropriate for discussing it (under the "Discussion" field, with the email address slightly obfuscated).
While a mailing list may not be the best, most-scalable way to organize discussion, it is how Java works. The mailing list is open to the public and it's possible to post to it after subscribing. This is the page to subscribe to the mailing list that is used for JEP 305: https://mail.openjdk.java.net/mailman/listinfo/amber-dev
I posted my feedback, and Brian Goetz replied in a few hours. That's more than I hoped for. While I'm not sure it was worth wasting his time, it is how the world's most popular programming language gets developed.