This article is about the Java programming language. For other uses, see History of Java.
The Java language has undergone several changes since JDK 1.0 as well as numerous additions of classes and packages to the standard library. Since J2SE 1.4, the evolution of the Java language has been governed by the Java Community Process (JCP), which uses Java Specification Requests (JSRs) to propose and specify additions and changes to the Java platform. The language is specified by the Java Language Specification (JLS); changes to the JLS are managed under JSR 901. In September 2017, Mark Reinhold, chief Architect of the Java Platform, proposed to change the release train to "one feature release every six months" rather than the then-current two-year schedule.[1][2] This proposal took effect for all following versions, and is still the current release schedule.
In addition to the language changes, other changes have been made to the Java Class Library over the years, which has grown from a few hundred classes in JDK 1.0 to over three thousand in J2SE 5. Entire new APIs, such as Swing and Java2D, have been introduced, and many of the original JDK 1.0 classes and methods have been deprecated, and very few APIs have been removed (at least one, for threading, in Java 22[3]). Some programs allow the conversion of Java programs from one version of the Java platform to an older one (for example Java 5.0 backported to 1.4) (see Java backporting tools).
Regarding Oracle's Java SE support roadmap,[4] Java SE 23 is the latest version, while versions 21, 17, 11 and 8 are the currently supported long-term support (LTS) versions, where Oracle Customers will receive Oracle Premier Support. Oracle continues to release no-cost public Java 8 updates for development[4] and personal use indefinitely. Oracle also continues to release no-cost public Java 17 LTS updates for all users, including commercial and production use until September 2024.[5]
In the case of OpenJDK, both commercial long-term support and free software updates are available from multiple organizations in the broader community.[6]
June 2020 for Red Hat[10] July 2022 for Oracle[13] December 2027 for Azul[9] March 2028 for BellSoft Liberica[12]
Old version, yet still maintained: Java SE 8 (1.8)
LTS
52
18th March 2014
April 2019 for Oracle November 2026 for Eclipse Temurin[14] November 2026 for Red Hat[10] November 2026 for Azul[9] December 2030 for Amazon Corretto[15]
December 2030 for Oracle[4] December 2030 for Azul[9] March 2031 for BellSoft Liberica[12]
Old version, no longer maintained: Java SE 9 (1.9)
53
21st September 2017
March 2018
—
Old version, no longer maintained: Java SE 10 (1.10)
54
20th March 2018
September 2018
—
Old version, yet still maintained: Java SE 11
LTS
55
25th September 2018
April 2019 for Oracle September 2027 for Microsoft Build of OpenJDK[16] October 2024 for Red Hat[10] October 2027 for Eclipse Temurin[14] October 2027 for Azul[9] January 2032 for Amazon Corretto[15] January 2032 for Azul[9]
January 2032 for Azul[9] March 2032 for BellSoft Liberica[12] October 2027 for Red Hat[10] January 2032 for Oracle[4]
Old version, no longer maintained: Java SE 12
56
19th March 2019
September 2019
—
Old version, no longer maintained: Java SE 13
57
17th September 2019
March 2020
—
Old version, no longer maintained: Java SE 14
58
17th March 2020
September 2020
—
Old version, no longer maintained: Java SE 15
59
16th September 2020
March 2021
—
Old version, no longer maintained: Java SE 16
60
16th March 2021
September 2021
—
Old version, yet still maintained: Java SE 17
LTS
61
14th September 2021
September 2024 for Oracle[4] September 2027 for Microsoft Build of OpenJDK[16] October 2027 for Eclipse Temurin[14] October 2027 for Red Hat[10] October 2029 for Amazon Corretto[15] September 2029 for Azul[9]
September 2029 for Oracle[4] March 2030 for BellSoft Liberica[12]
Old version, no longer maintained: Java SE 18
62
22nd March 2022
September 2022
—
Old version, no longer maintained: Java SE 19
63
20th September 2022
March 2023
—
Old version, no longer maintained: Java SE 20
64
21st March 2023
September 2023
—
Old version, yet still maintained: Java SE 21
LTS
65
19th September 2023
September 2028 for Oracle[4] September 2028 for Microsoft Build of OpenJDK[16] December 2029 for Red Hat[10] December 2029 for Eclipse Temurin[14] October 2030 for Amazon Corretto[15] September 2031 for Azul[9]
September 2031 for Oracle[4] March 2032 for BellSoft Liberica[12]
reflection which supported Introspection only, no modification at runtime was possible. (The ability to modify objects reflectively was added in J2SE 1.2, by introducing the AccessibleObject class and its subclasses such as the Field class.)
The release on December 8, 1998 and subsequent releases through J2SE 5.0 were rebranded retrospectively Java 2 and the version name "J2SE" (Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition) replaced JDK to distinguish the base platform from J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) and J2ME (Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition). This was a very significant release of Java as it tripled the size of the Java platform to 1520 classes in 59 packages. Major additions included:[21]
strictfp keyword (by JVM 17 an obsolete keyword, should not be used in new code)
The Swing graphical API was integrated into the core classes.
Sun's JVM was equipped with a JIT compiler for the first time.
The February 6, 2002 release was the first release of the Java platform developed under the Java Community Process as JSR 59. Major changes included:[25][26]
The release on September 30, 2004 was originally numbered 1.5, which is still used as the internal version number. The number was changed to "better reflect the level of maturity, stability, scalability and security of the J2SE".[28] This version was developed under JSR 176.
Java SE 5 entered its end-of-public-updates period on April 8, 2008; updates are no longer available to the public as of November 3, 2009. Updates were available to paid Oracle customers until May 2015.[4]
Tiger added a number of significant new language features:[29][30]
Metadata: also called annotations; allows language constructs such as classes and methods to be tagged with additional data, which can then be processed by metadata-aware utilities (specified by JSR 175)
Enumerations: the enum keyword creates a typesafe, ordered list of values (such as Day.MONDAY, Day.TUESDAY, etc.); previously this could only be achieved by non-typesafe constant integers or manually constructed classes (typesafe enum pattern) (specified by JSR 201)
Varargs: the last parameter of a method can now be declared using a type name followed by three dots (e.g. void drawtext(String... lines)); in the calling code any number of parameters of that type can be used and they are then placed in an array to be passed to the method, or alternatively the calling code can pass an array of that type
Enhanced for each loop: the for loop syntax is extended with special syntax for iterating over each member of either an array or any Iterable, such as the standard Collection classes (specified by JSR 201)
Improved semantics of execution for multi-threaded Java programs; the new Java memory model addresses issues of complexity, effectiveness, and performance of previous specifications[31]
Scanner class for parsing data from various input streams and buffers
Java 5 is the last release of Java to officially support Microsoft Windows 98 and Windows ME,[33] while Windows Vista was the newest version of Windows that Java SE 5 was supported on prior to Java 5 going end-of-life in October of 2009.[27]
Java 5 was first available on Apple Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)[35] and was the default version of Java installed on Apple Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard).
Public support and security updates for Java 1.5 ended in November 2009. Paid security updates for Oracle customers ended in April 2015.
Versioning change
This version introduced a new versioning system for the Java language, although the old versioning system continued to be used for developer libraries:
Both version numbers "1.5.0" and "5.0" are used to identify this release of the Java 2 Platform Standard Edition. Version "5.0" is the product version, while "1.5.0" is the developer version. The number "5.0" is used to better reflect the level of maturity, stability, scalability and security of the J2SE.
As of the version released on December 11, 2006, Sun replaced the name "J2SE" with Java SE and dropped the ".0" from the version number.[37] Internal numbering for developers remains 1.6.0.[38]
During the development phase, new builds including enhancements and bug fixes were released approximately weekly. Beta versions were released in February and June 2006, leading up to a final release that occurred on December 11, 2006.
Support for older Win9x versions dropped; unofficially, Java 6 Update 7 was the last release of Java shown to work on these versions of Windows.[citation needed] This is believed[by whom?] to be due to the major changes in Update 10.
Scripting Language Support (JSR 223): Generic API for tight integration with scripting languages, and built-in MozillaJavaScriptRhino integration.
Dramatic performance improvements for the core platform,[41][42] and Swing.
Improved Web Service support through JAX-WS (JSR 224).
Many GUI improvements, such as integration of SwingWorker in the API, table sorting and filtering, and true Swing double-buffering (eliminating the gray-area effect).
Java 6 can be installed to Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) running on 64-bit (Core 2 Duo and higher) processor machines.[44] Java 6 is also supported by both 32-bit and 64-bit machines running Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).
Java 6 reached the end of its supported life in February 2013, at which time all public updates, including security updates, were scheduled to be stopped.[45][46] Oracle released two more updates to Java 6 in March and April 2013, which patched some security vulnerabilities.[47][48]
Java 6 updates
After Java 6 release, Sun, and later Oracle, released several updates which, while not changing any public API, enhanced end-user usability or fixed bugs.[49]
Table of Java 6 updates
Release
Release date
Highlights
Java SE 6
2006-12-23
This release adds many enhancements in the fields of Web services, scripting, databases, pluggable annotations, and security, as well as quality, compatibility, and stability. JConsole is now officially supported. Java DB support has been added.
A workaround for the infamous Xlib/XCB locking assertion issue was introduced. A memory leak when using Kerberos authentication with LoginContext was fixed. Several other bugs were fixed.
Unofficially, Java SE 6 Update 7 (1.6.0.7) is the last version of Java that was shown to be working on the Win9x family of operating systems[citation needed]
No security fixes; 64-bit Java plug-in (for 64-bit web browsers only); Windows Server 2008 support; performance improvements of graphics and JavaFX applications
HotSpot VM 14. This release includes extensive performance updates to the JIT compiler, compressed pointers for 64-bit machines, as well as support for the G1 (Garbage First) low-pause garbage collector.[53][54]
Some developers have noticed an issue introduced in this release which causes debuggers to miss breakpoints seemingly randomly.[55] Sun has a corresponding bug, which is tracking the issue. The workaround applies to the Client and Server VMs.[56] Using the -XX:+UseParallelGC option will prevent the failure. Another workaround is to roll back to update 13, or to upgrade to update 16.
No security fixes; Hotspot VM 16; support for Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop Edition, SLES 11, Windows 7, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3, Firefox 3.6, VisualVM 1.2; updated Java DB; many performance improvements
No security fixes; Hotspot VM 20; support for Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 4 and Chrome 10; improved BigDecimal; includes "tiered" compilation in the Server VM that enables it to start quickly as does the Client VM, while achieving better peak performance (this feature is enabled by specifying -server and -XX:+TieredCompilation command options)
42 security fixes;[61] other changes; final public update.[62]
Java SE 6 Update 51
2013-06-18
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Apple Update for OS X Snow Leopard, Lion & Mountain Lion; up to 40 security fixes[63]
Java SE 6 Update 65
2013-10-15
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Apple Update for OS X Snow Leopard, Lion & Mountain Lion; at least 11 critical security fixes[64]
Java SE 6 Update 71
2014-01-14
Not available for public download; 33 fixes[citation needed]
Java SE 6 Update 75
2014-04-15
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster no. #54; 25 security fixes[65]
Java SE 6 Update 81
2014-07-15
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 11 security fixes[66]
Java SE 6 Update 85
2014-10-16
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 18 security fixes[67]
Java SE 6 Update 91
2015-01-21
Linux x64 and Windows i586 versions are available as the Java SE 6 Reference Implementation.[68] Other versions are only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 15 security fixes[69]
Java SE 6 Update 95
2015-04-14
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 14 security fixes[70]
Java SE 6 Update 101
2015-07-15
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 18 security fixes[71] Certification for IE 10 and 11 was introduced in 1.6.0_101
Java SE 6 Update 105
2015-10-20
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 17 security fixes[72]
Java SE 6 Update 111
2016-01-20
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 13 security fixes[73]
Java SE 6 Update 113
2016-02-05
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 1 security fix[74]
Java SE 6 Update 115
2016-04-21
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 8 security fixes[75]
Java SE 6 Update 121
2016-07-19
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 15 security fixes[76]
Java SE 6 Update 131
2016-10-18
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 13 security fixes[77]
Java SE 6 Update 141
2017-01-17
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 17 security fixes[78]
Java SE 6 Update 151
2017-04-18
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 10 security fixes[79]
Java SE 6 Update 161
2017-07-18
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 5 security fixes[80]
Java SE 6 Update 171
2017-10-20
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 7 security fixes[81]
Java SE 6 Update 181
2018-01-16
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 12 security fixes[82]
Java SE 6 Update 191
2018-04-17
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 7 security fixes[83]
Java SE 6 Update 201
2018-07-17
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 3 security fixes[84]
Java SE 6 Update 211
2018-10-18
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 8 security fixes[85]
Java 7 was a major update that launched on July 7, 2011[87] and was made available for developers on July 28, 2011.[88] The development period was organized into thirteen milestones; on June 6, 2011, the last of the thirteen milestones was finished.[88][89] On average, 8 builds (which generally included enhancements and bug fixes) were released per milestone. The feature list at the OpenJDK 7 project lists many of the changes.
New file I/O library (defined by JSR 203) adding support for multiple file systems, file metadata and symbolic links. The new packages are java.nio.file, java.nio.file.attribute and java.nio.file.spi[103][104]
Timsort is used to sort collections and arrays of objects instead of merge sort
Lambda (Java's implementation of lambda functions), Jigsaw (Java's implementation of modules), and part of Coin were dropped from Java 7, and released as part of Java 8 (except for Jigsaw, which was released in Java 9).[107][108]
Java 7 was the default version to download on java.com from April 2012 until Java 8 was released.[109]
Java 7 updates
Oracle issued public updates to the Java 7 family on a quarterly basis[110] until April 2015 when the product reached the end of its public availability.[111] Further updates for JDK 7, which continued until July 2022, are only made available to customers with a support contract.[112]
No security fixes; HotSpot VM 22; reliability and performance improvements; support for Solaris 11 and Firefox 5 and later; JavaFX included with Java SE JDK, improvements for web-deployed applications
JavaFX and Java Access Bridge included in Java SE JDK and JRE installation, JavaFX support for touch-enabled monitors and touch pads, JavaFX support for Linux, JDK and JRE Support for Mac OS X, JDK for Linux on ARM[116]
New security features, such as the ability to disable any Java application from running in the browser and new dialogs to warn you when the JRE is insecure, and bug fixes
Olson Data 2012i; bugfix for problems with registration of plugin on systems with Stand-alone version of JavaFX Installed, security fixes for CVE-2013-0422;[118] the default security level for Java applets and web start applications has been increased from "Medium" to "High"
36 security fixes; block JAVA applets without manifest (like Remote console – Java Applet – IBM IMM card, HP iLO card) even if warning dialog is with sentence "will be blocked in next version",[123][124] 17 bug fixes
Last public release of Java 7; same release date with Update 79 as a corresponding Patch Set Update (PSU) for Java SE 7, 104 bug fixes[citation needed]
Java SE 7 Update 85
2015-07-15
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 25 security fixes[129]
Java SE 7 Update 91
2015-10-20
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 20 security fixes[130]
Java SE 7 Update 95
2016-01-19
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 8 security fixes[131]
Java SE 7 Update 97
2016-02-05
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 1 security fix[74]
Java SE 7 Update 99
2016-03-23
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 1 security fix[132]
Java SE 7 Update 101
2016-04-18
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 22 security fixes[133]
Java SE 7 Update 111
2016-07-19
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 36 security fixes[76]
Java SE 7 Update 121
2016-10-18
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 32 security fixes[77]
Java SE 7 Update 131
2017-01-17
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 34 security fixes[78]
Java SE 7 Update 141
2017-04-18
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 8 security fixes[134]
Java SE 7 Update 151
2017-07-18
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 4 security fixes[80]
Java SE 7 Update 161
2017-10-20
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 4 security fixes[81]
Java SE 7 Update 171
2018-01-16
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 51 security fixes[82]
Java SE 7 Update 181
2018-04-17
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 12 security fixes[83]
Java SE 7 Update 191
2018-07-17
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 9 security fixes[84]
Java SE 7 Update 201
2018-10-18
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 13 security fixes[85]
Java SE 7 Update 211
2019-01-15
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 5 security fixes[135]
Java SE 7 Update 221
2019-04-16
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 5 security fixes[136]
Java SE 7 Update 231
2019-07-16
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 6 security fixes[137]
Java SE 7 Update 241
2019-10-15
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 15 security fixes[138]
Java SE 7 Update 251
2020-01-14
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 12 security fixes[139]
Java SE 7 Update 261
2020-04-14
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 15 security fixes[140]
Java SE 7 Update 271
2020-07-14
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 11 security fixes[141]
Java SE 7 Update 281
2020-10-20
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 8 security fixes[142]
Java SE 7 Update 291
2021-01-19
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 1 security fixes[143]
Java SE 7 Update 301
2021-04-12
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 11 security fixes[144]
Java SE 7 Update 311
2021-07-20
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 24 bug fixes[145]
Java SE 7 Update 321
2021-10-19
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 16 bug fixes[146]
Java SE 7 Update 331
2022-01-18
Not available publicly, only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10's Recommended Patchset Cluster; 18 bug fixes[147]
JSR 335, JEP 126: Language-level support for lambda expressions (officially, lambda expressions; unofficially, closures) under Project Lambda[152] and default methods (virtual extension methods)[153][154][155] which can be used to add methods to interfaces without breaking existing implementations. There was an ongoing debate in the Java community on whether to add support for lambda expressions.[156][157] Sun later declared that lambda expressions would be included in Java and asked for community input to refine the feature.[158] Supporting lambda expressions also enables functional-style operations on streams of elements, such as MapReduce-inspired transformations on collections. Default methods can be used by an author of an API to add new methods to an interface without breaking the old code using it. Although it was not their primary intent,[153] default methods can also be used for multiple inheritance of behavior (but not state).
JEP 174: Project Nashorn, a JavaScript runtime which can run JavaScript code embedded within applications
Java 8 is not supported on Windows XP[160] but as of JDK 8 update 25, it can still be installed and run under Windows XP.[161] Previous updates of JDK 8 could be run under XP by downloading archived zip format file and unzipping it for the executable. The last version of Java 8 could run on XP is update 251.
From October 2014, Java 8 was the default version to download (and then again the download replacing Java 9) from the official website.[162] "Oracle will continue to provide Public Updates and auto updates of Java SE 8, Indefinitely for Personal Users".[163]
645 bug fixes,[172] Added the notion of "memory pressure" to help indicate how much of system's memory is still available (low pressure = high memory, high pressure = low memory)
Java SE 9 was made available on September 21, 2017[242] due to controversial acceptance of the current implementation of Project Jigsaw by Java Executive Committee[243] which led Oracle to fix some open issues and concerns and to refine some critical technical questions. In the last days of June 2017, Java Community Process expressed nearly unanimous consensus on the proposed Module System scheme.[244]
JEP 193: Variable handles, define a standard means to invoke the equivalents of various java.util.concurrent.atomic and sun.misc.Unsafe operations
JEP 213: Milling Project Coin, allow @SafeVarargs on private instance methods; Allow effectively-final variables to be used as resources in the try-with-resources statement; Allow diamond with anonymous classes if the argument type of the inferred type is denotable; Complete the removal, begun in Java SE 8, of underscore from the set of legal identifier names; Support for private methods in interfaces
JEP 282: jlink: The Java Linker, create a tool that can assemble and optimize a set of modules and their dependencies into a custom run-time image. It effectively allows to produce a fully usable executable including the JVM to run it
The first Java 9 release candidate was released on August 9, 2017.[250] The first stable release of Java 9 was on September 21, 2017.[251]
History
At JavaOne 2011, Oracle discussed features they hoped to release for Java 9 in 2016.[252] Java 9 should include better support for multi-gigabyte heaps, better native code integration, a different default garbage collector (G1, for "shorter response times")[253] and a self-tuning JVM.[254] In early 2016, the release of Java 9 was rescheduled for March 2017[255] and later again postponed four more months to July 2017.[256]
The first of these JEP 286 Local-Variable Type Inference, allows the var keyword to be used for local variables with the actual type calculated by the compiler. Due to this change, developers can do the following instead of manually specifying the variable's type:
JDK 11 was released on September 25, 2018 and the version is currently open for bug fixes. It offers LTS, or Long-Term Support. Among others, Java 11 includes a number of new features, such as:[268]
A number of features from previous releases were dropped; in particular, Java applets and Java Web Start are no longer available. JavaFX, Java EE and CORBA modules have been removed from JDK.[269]
New System and Security Properties to Control Reconstruction of Remote Objects by JDK's Built-in JNDI RMI and LDAP Implementations (core-libs/javax.naming)
Added 2 HARICA Root CA Certificates (security-libs/java.security)
Disable TLS 1.0 and 1.1 (security-libs/javax.net.ssl)
Modified the MS950 charset Encoder's Conversion Table (core-libs/java.nio.charsets)
Less Ambiguous Processing of ProcessBuilder Quotes on Windows > (core-libs/java.lang)
The preview feature JEP 325 extends the switch statement so it can also be used as an expression, and adds a new form of case label where the right hand side is an expression. No break statement is needed. For complex expressions a yield statement can be used. This becomes standard in Java SE 14.
JDK 13 was released on September 17, 2019. Java 13 includes the following new features, as well as "hundreds of smaller enhancements and thousands of bug fixes".[322]
JDK 14 was released on March 17, 2020. Java 14 includes the following new features, as well as "hundreds of smaller enhancements and thousands of bug fixes".[327]
JDK 15 was released on September 15, 2020. Java 15 adds e.g. support for multi-line string literals (aka Text Blocks). The Shenandoah and Z garbage collectors (latter sometimes abbreviated ZGC) are now ready for use in production (i.e. no longer marked experimental). Support for Oracle's Solaris operating system (and SPARC CPUs) is dropped (while still available in e.g. Java 11). The Nashorn JavaScript Engine is removed. Also removed some root CA certificates.
JEP 360 Sealed Classes adds sealed classes and interfaces that restrict which other classes or interfaces may extend or implement them. Only those classes specified in a permits clause may extend the class or interface.
Together with records, sealed classes are sum types. They work well with other recent features like records, switch expressions, and pattern matching for instance-of. They all form part of a system for "Pattern matching in Java" first discussed by Gavin Bierman and Brian Goetz, in September 2018.[334]
JDK 16 was released on March 16, 2021. Java 16 removes Ahead-of-Time compilation (and Graal JIT) options.[340] The Java implementation itself was and is still written in C++, while as of Java 16, more recent C++14 (but still not e.g. C++17 or C++20) is allowed. The code was also moved to GitHub, dropping Mercurial as the source control system.
New System and Security Properties to Control Reconstruction of Remote Objects by JDK's Built-in JNDI RMI and LDAP Implementations (core-libs/javax.naming)
Added 2 HARICA Root CA Certificates (security-libs/java.security)
Less Ambiguous Processing of ProcessBuilder Quotes on Windows (core-libs/java.lang)
JDK 17 was released in September 2021.[346] Java 17 is the 2nd long-term support (LTS) release since switching to the new 6-month release cadence (the first being Java 11).
JEP 406 extends the pattern matching syntax used in instanceof operations to switch statements and expressions. It allows cases to be selected based on the type of the argument, null cases and refining patterns
Objecto=...;returnswitch(o){casenull->"Null";caseStrings->"String %s".formatted(s);caseLongl->"long %d".formatted(l);caseDoubled->"double %f".formatted(d);caseIntegeri&&i>0// refining patterns->"positive int %d".formatted(i);caseIntegeri&&i==0->"zero int %d".formatted(i);caseIntegeri&&i<0->"negative int %d".formatted(i);default->o.toString();};
JEP 405 allows record patterns, extending the pattern matching capabilities of instanceof operators, and switch expressions, to include record patterns that explicitly refer to the components of the record.
Record patterns, pattern matching for switch, virtual threads
Preview(s)
String templates, unnamed classes and main methods
Incubating
Vector API
Java 21 was released on 19 September 2023.[392] The 32-bit version of Java for Windows on x86 was deprecated for removal with this release. The following JEPs were added, including eight JEPs that graduated from the incubating and preview stages, compared to Java 20 which only had previewing and incubating JEPs. Java 21 introduces features first previewed in Java 17 (pattern matching for switch statements) and Java 19 (record patterns). All JEPs added with Java 21 include the following:
As of December 2024[update], the specification for Java 25 has not yet been finalized. Java 25 is scheduled for release in September 2025.[409]
Future features
Project Valhalla: Value classes, whose objects lack identity, but can in certain cases get an improved memory layout (with less indirection), or have their allocation optimized away entirely.
Improved interoperability with native code, to enable Java source code to call functions and use data types from other languages, in a way that is easier and has better performance than today (this part of Project Panama is getting stabilized in Java 22 under JEP 454: Foreign Function & Memory API).
Vector API, a portable and relatively low-level abstraction layer for SIMD programming. Its stabilization is dependent on Project Valhalla.
Project Lilliput: Reduce the size of Java object headers. First down to 64 bits, and then down to 32 bits.
Reducing startup time and warm-up time (time to peak performance) in JIT mode:
Project CRaC enables making snapshots of whole JVM (together with the running application) and restoring it with necessary adjustments (reopening files, sockets, etc).
Project Leyden, among other things, will allow partial or (in the long term) full AOT compiling, reducing overall dynamism (by adopting so called "closed-world constraints") to reduce dynamic compiling overhead.
Project Babylon aims to extend the Java language's reach to alternative programming models with an enhancement to its reflective programming abilities, called code reflection (i.e., reflection over code itself). The stated main goal is to run Java code on GPUs, with SQL and other programming models as secondary targets.
Implementations
The officially supported Java platform, first developed at Sun and now stewarded by Oracle, is Java SE. Releases are based on the OpenJDK project, a free and open-source project with an open development model. Other Java implementations exist, however—in part due to Java's early history as proprietary software. In contrast, some implementations were created to offer some benefits over the standard implementation, often the result of some area of academic or corporate-sponsored research. Many Linux distributions include builds of OpenJDK through the IcedTea project started by Red Hat, which provides a more straightforward build and integration environment.
Visual J++ and the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine were created as incompatible implementations. After the Sun v. Microsoft lawsuit, Microsoft abandoned it and began work on the .NET platform. In 2021, Microsoft started distributing compatible "Microsoft Build of OpenJDK" for Java 11 first then also for Java 17. Their builds support not only Windows, but also Linux and macOS.
Other proprietary Java implementations are available, such as Azul's Zing. Azul offers certified open source OpenJDK builds under the Zulu moniker.
Prior to the release of OpenJDK, while Sun's implementation was still proprietary, the GNU Classpath project was created to provide a free and open-source implementation of the Java platform. Since the release of JDK 7, when OpenJDK became the official reference implementation, the original motivation for the GNU Classpath project almost completely disappeared, and its last release was in 2012.
The Apache Harmony project was started shortly before the release of OpenJDK. After Sun's initial source code release, the Harmony project continued, working to provide an implementation under a lax license, in contrast to the protective license chosen for OpenJDK. Google later developed Android and released it under a lax license. Android incorporated parts of the Harmony project, supplemented with Google's own Dalvik virtual machine and ART. Apache Harmony has since been retired, and Google has switched its Harmony components with equivalent ones from OpenJDK.
Both Jikes and Jikes RVM are open-source research projects that IBM developed.
Several other implementations exist that started as proprietary software but are now open source. IBM initially developed OpenJ9 as the proprietary J9[410] but has since relicensed the project and donated it to the Eclipse Foundation. JRockit is a proprietary implementation that was acquired by Oracle and incorporated into subsequent OpenJDK versions.
^"End of Java 7 Public Updates". After April 2015, Oracle will no longer post updates of Java SE 7 to its public download sites. Existing Java SE 7 downloads already posted as of April 2015 will remain accessible in the Java Archive on the Oracle Technology Network. Developers and end-users are encouraged to update to more recent Java SE versions that remain available for public download in order to continue receiving public updates and security enhancements. [..] July 2015: Updates for Java 7 are no longer available to the public. Oracle offers updates to Java 7 only for customers who have purchased Java support or have Oracle products that require Java 7.
^Stahl, Henrik (2014-07-11). "Updated: The future of Java on Windows XP". Oracle Corporation. Archived from the original on 2014-11-11. Retrieved 2014-11-11. JDK 8 is not supported on Windows XP. Early versions of JDK 8 had known issues with the installer on Windows XP that prevented it from installing without manual intervention. This was resolved in JDK 8 Update 25. The important point here is that we can no longer provide complete guarantees for Java on Windows XP, since the OS is no longer being updated by Microsoft. We strongly recommend that users upgrade to a newer version of Windows that is still supported by Microsoft in order to maintain a stable and secure environment.
^Wieldt, Tori (October 27, 2014). "Java SE 8 on Java.com". blog.oracle.com. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.