Is Java Finally Dead? ☠️

If you still think Java is the same language you learned a decade ago, you are already behind.

Every year, people claim “Java is dead”. Meanwhile, it keeps shipping a new release every six months.

If you still think Java is the same language you learned a decade ago, you are already behind.

While people kept repeating the same headline, Java kept evolving. Over the years, it has moved far beyond its old image of verbose syntax and enterprise-only use. Today, it offers stronger language features, better performance, modern concurrency, improved security, and a much richer set of platform projects driving the ecosystem forward.

Modern Java looks very different. It includes pattern matching, virtual threads, and foreign function and memory access, along with a steady stream of improvements from projects like Amber, Panama, Loom, and Valhalla. The language is getting simpler. The runtime is getting faster. Concurrency is no longer painful.

Java did not always evolve this way. Before Java 5, Java evolved mainly through APIs, libraries, tooling, and VM improvements. Java 5 made the language itself much more visible to developers. Java 5 shifted that direction. Features like generics, annotations, enums, autoboxing, and the enhanced for-loop made the language more expressive—and marked the beginning of continuous, visible evolution.

Since then, every release has pushed Java in a clear direction: simpler syntax, better performance, scalable concurrency, and a cleaner platform.

You will notice labels like:

• Preview → feature is not final, subject to change

• Incubator → experimental API, still being tested

• Standard → production-ready and stable

• LTS → long-term support

• JEPs → JDK Enhancement Proposals

Version-by-version java feature timeline

Java 1.0

• Core Features

  • Introduced the JVM and bytecode execution model to run the same code across platforms

  • Enabled automatic garbage collection to manage memory without manual deallocation

  • Built the language around object-oriented design (classes, inheritance, polymorphism)

  • Provided multithreading support at the language level

  • Delivered platform independence (WORA — Write Once, Run Anywhere)

  • Implemented a sandbox-based security model to safely run untrusted code

• UI & Distribution

  • Introduced AWT (Abstract Window Toolkit) for basic GUI development

  • Added applets to run Java programs inside web browsers

• This marked the beginning of Java’s focus on portability and security as core principles, laying the foundation of its runtime model, though it lacked the rich libraries and maturity required for modern application development.

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Java 1.1

• Core Features

  • Introduced inner classes for better encapsulation and cleaner event handling

  • Added JavaBeans component model to enable reusable, tool-friendly components

  • Introduced JDBC to standardize database access

  • Improved RMI to support distributed object communication

  • Added Reflection API to inspect and modify classes at runtime

• UI & Event Handling

  • Introduced delegation event model (AWT) to replace old event handling with a listener-based approach

• Platform Enhancements

  • Improved internationalization (i18n) for global application support

  • Updated JNI(Java Native Interface) to improve interaction with native code

  • Introduced JAR format to simplify packaging and distribution

  • Added signed applets to improve security

• JDBC enabled real database-driven applications, which pushed Java into enterprise use. The delegation event model reduced UI complexity and improved maintainability. JavaBeans and JAR improved reuse and deployment, lowering development time. Security improvements increased trust, while internationalization expanded global reach.

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Java 1.2

• Introduced the platform naming that grouped the language and runtime under J2SE.

• Core Improvements

  • Introduced the Collections Framework

    • Provided standard data structures (List, Set, Map)

    • Simplified data handling and improved code maintainability

  • Added Swing (JFC)

    • Delivered a more powerful and flexible GUI toolkit

    • Replaced older AWT limitations

• Platform Enhancements

  • Improved RMI (Remote Method Invocation)

  • Strengthened security features

  • Enhanced portability across systems

  • Introduced and matured **JavaBeans component model

• Enhanced Javadoc system

  • Added package-level documentation

  • Enabled system-wide documentation

  • Introduced doclets and richer output formats

• The Collections Framework reduced development time and bugs by standardizing data handling, which directly lowered maintenance cost and improved developer productivity. Performance became more predictable due to optimized, reusable data structures. Stronger security features increased trust for enterprise use, while improved portability reduced deployment friction across platforms

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Java 1.3

• Improved performance with the HotSpot Client VM, HotSpot Server VM, and tuned runtime libraries.

• Improved web deployment with applet caching and automatic deployment of optional packages.

• Added enterprise interoperability with RMI-IIOP and JNDI.

• Strengthened security with RSA signatures, dynamic trust management, and better X.509 certificate support.

• Added Java Sound as a standard audio API.

• Also improved javac, dynamic proxies, Collections, Swing, debugging APIs, and internationalization.

• This is a “make Java faster and more usable” release, not a language rework.

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Java 1.4

• Added assertions for runtime checks.

• Added regular expressions through java.util.regex.

• Added NIO with buffers, character-set support, file I/O, scalable network I/O, and better performance.

• Added the Logging API and XML processing APIs.

• Improved Swing with spinner, formatted text field, drag-and-drop, indeterminate progress bar, scrollable tabs, and better focus handling.

• Improved performance and debugging with HotSpot updates, full-speed debugging, and GC logging.

• Added chained exceptions and new String methods: split, matches, replaceAll, and replaceFirst

• Java 1.4 is where the platform starts feeling like a serious server and tooling environment, not just a language.

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Java 5

• Core Language Features

  • Added generics to provide type safety and remove explicit casting

  • Added annotations to attach metadata to code for tools and frameworks

  • Introduced enums as a type-safe way to define constants

  • Enabled autoboxing and unboxing to convert between primitives and wrapper types automatically

  • Added varargs to pass variable-length arguments to methods

  • Introduced enhanced for-loop to simplify iteration over collections and arrays

  • Added static import to use static members without class qualification

• Concurrency & Utilities

  • Introduced java.util.concurrent for high-level concurrency (thread pools, locks, concurrent collections)

  • Added Scanner for easier input parsing

  • Added Formatter for formatted output (similar to printf)

• Platform Enhancements

  • Added ProcessBuilder for cleaner subprocess execution than Runtime.exec.

  • Added the Instrumentation API in java.lang.instrument for runtime bytecode modification by Java agents.

  • Added Class Data Sharing to reduce startup time and footprint by sharing core class metadata across JVMs.

  • Improved garbage collector ergonomics and server-class machine detection to reduce manual tuning and improve startup behavior.

  • Collections Framework was enhanced with generics support and extended with new interfaces and implementations (Queue, BlockingQueue, ConcurrentMap, copy-on-write collections, type-safe wrappers).

• Java 5 is the real baseline for “modern Java” syntax and concurrency. If you are missing generics and annotations in your mental model, everything above this becomes harder.

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Java 6

• Expanded Collections with Deque , BlockingDeque , and NavigableSet

• Added JSR 223 scripting support.

• Added the Java Compiler API (JSR 199) and pluggable annotation processing (JSR 269).

• Added JDBC 4.0, StAX, JAXB 2.0, and JAX-WS 2.0.

• Improved Swing with table sorting, filtering, highlighting, SwingWorker, and text-component printing.

• Improved runtime performance, startup time, synchronization, and class-file parsing.

• Java 6 is the “solidify the platform” release. Less flashy, but important in real systems.

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Java 7 — July 28, 2011

• Core Language Features (JSR 334 – Project Coin)

  • Introduced try-with-resources for automatic resource management (AutoCloseable)

  • Added multi-catch exceptions and improved type checking for rethrowing exceptions.

  • Introduced diamond operator (<>) for generic type inference

  • Added strings in switch statements

  • Added binary literals (0b1010) and underscores in numeric literals (1_000_000)

• NIO.2 (JSR 203 — Major Upgrade)

  • Introduced Path, Files, and modern filesystem API

  • Added file tree walking

  • Added file watching (WatchService)

  • Improved symbolic link and filesystem support

• JVM & Runtime Enhancements

  • Introduced invokedynamic (JSR 292) for dynamic language support

  • Added method handles (java.lang.invoke)

  • Made G1 Garbage Collector available (experimental)

  • HotSpot improvements:

    • Better JIT performance

    • Startup optimizations

  • Improved class loading (e.g., URLClassLoader enhancements)

• TLS 1.2 support introduced

• Unicode 6.0 support

• Improved networking APIs (SCTP, SDP support)

• Fork/Join framework

• Java 7 is where code becomes noticeably cleaner and safer to write, especially for resource handling and filesystem work.

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Java 8 (LTS) — March 18, 2014

• Core Language Features

  • Added lambda expressions to pass behavior as data

  • Added method references to simplify lambda expressions

  • Added default methods in interfaces to evolve APIs without breaking implementations

• Functional & Collections

  • Added the Streams API for declarative data processing on collections

  • Integrated streams with the Collections Framework for bulk operations

• Core APIs

  • Added Optional to represent nullable values explicitly

  • Added the java.time API for modern date and time handling

• Language & Metadata

  • Added repeating annotations

  • Added type annotations for stronger type checking and analysis

• Platform Features

  • Added Nashorn JavaScript engine to replace Rhino

  • Added Compact Profiles to support smaller runtime deployment

• If you are writing real-world Java today, Java 8 is the minimum mental baseline. Streams, lambdas, Optional and the new date/time API are not optional knowledge anymore.

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Java 9 — September 21, 2017

• Java 9 delivered the module system (Project Jigsaw)

• Core Language Features

  • Refined Project Coin with small language changes: it allowed effectively final variables as resources in try-with-resources, supported the diamond operator with anonymous classes in valid cases, added private methods in interfaces, and removed underscore from the legal identifier set.

• Platform and Libraries

  • Introduced the Java Platform Module System. It added modules, modular JARs, JMODs, jlink, custom runtime images, and module paths. It also split the JDK into modules and removed rt.jar, tools.jar, and the extension mechanism.

  • Added JShell, an interactive REPL for Java.

  • Added multi-release JARs so one archive can carry version-specific class files.

  • Added convenience factory methods for collections such as List.of, Set.of, and Map.of.

  • Added Process API updates through ProcessHandle and related controls for operating system processes.

  • Added the Platform Logging API and Service so platform classes can log through a pluggable service.

  • Added More Concurrency Updates, including a publish-subscribe framework and CompletableFuture enhancements.

  • Added Segmented Code Cache to split compiled code into separate cache segments and improve performance.

• Java 9 matters because it starts the modular JDK era. If you maintain large systems, this release affects packaging, runtime images, and dependency boundaries.

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Java 10 — March 20, 2018

• Core Language Features

  • Added local-variable type inference with var for local variables that have initializers.

• Runtime and Platform

  • Added Application Class-Data Sharing (AppCDS) to archive application classes and improve startup time and memory footprint.

  • Added a Garbage Collector Interface to isolate GC implementations in HotSpot.

  • Made G1 full GC parallel to improve worst-case latency.

  • Added thread-local handshakes so the JVM can act on individual threads without a global safepoint.

  • Added root certificates in the JDK.

  • Removed the javah native-header generation tool.

• Java 10 cut boilerplate with var and improved startup and GC behaviour with AppCDS and VM runtime changes. It also removed javah, which pushed native-header generation into javac.

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Java 11 (LTS) — September 25, 2018

• Core Language and Tooling Features

  • Added local-variable syntax for lambda parameters (var) so you can annotate lambda parameters without writing their types.

  • Added single-file source-code programs so the java launcher can run one source file directly.

• Core APIs

  • Standardized the HTTP Client API (java.net.http) with support for HTTP/2 and WebSocket (JEP 321)

  • Added Unicode 10 support.

  • Added new String methods: isBlank, lines, strip, stripLeading, stripTrailing, repeat

  • Added Files utility methods: readString, writeString

• JVM and Runtime

  • Added nest-based access control so nested classes can access each other’s private members without bridge methods.

  • Added dynamic class-file constants.

  • Added TLS 1.3 support.

  • Added Flight Recorder for low-overhead event recording and troubleshooting.

  • Added ZGC as an experimental low-latency garbage collector.

  • Added Epsilon GC as an experimental no-op garbage collector.

• Removals

  • Removed the Java EE and CORBA modules from the JDK.

  • Removed the deployment stack: Java Web Start, Java Plugin, Java Control Panel, and applet support.

  • Removed bundled JavaFX from the JDK.

  • Stopped offering the JRE and Server JRE as separate downloads.

• Java 11 is a very strong production baseline, but migration breaks are real. Do not treat it as “just Java 8 plus extras.”

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Java 12 — March 19, 2019

• Core Language Features

  • Added switch expressions (Preview)

• Core APIs

  • Added the JVM Constants API

  • Added compact number formatting

  • Added Unicode 11 support

• JVM and GC

  • Enabled default CDS archives

  • Improved G1 GC with abortable mixed collections

  • Improved G1 GC to return unused committed memory faster

  • Added one AArch64 port, Not Two

  • Added a microbenchmark suite for JVM work

  • Added Shenandoah: A Low-Pause-Time Garbage Collector (Experimental)

• Java 12 gave developers a preview of the next switch syntax, improved startup and memory behaviour, and expanded GC options. It also added lower-level JVM support and runtime tooling for performance work.

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Java 13 — September 17, 2019

• Core Language Features

  • Added switch expressions (2 Preview).

  • Added text blocks for multi-line string literals and cleaner embedded text (Preview).

• JVM and Runtime

  • Added dynamic CDS archives to archive application classes at the end of execution.

  • Added ZGC memory uncommit to return unused heap memory to the operating system.

  • Reimplemented the legacy Socket API for Socket and ServerSocket.

• Java 13 improved startup and memory behaviour, modernized socket internals, and let developers test two language features before final release. It was a feature release, not an LTS baseline.

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Java 14 — March 17, 2020

• Core Language Features

  • Switch expressions - (Standard)

  • Records - (Preview)

  • Pattern matching for instanceof - (Preview)

  • Text blocks - (Second Preview)

• Runtime and Tools

  • Helpful NullPointerExceptions

  • Packaging Tool - (Incubator)

  • JFR Event Streaming

  • NUMA-Aware Memory Allocation for G1

  • Non-Volatile Mapped Byte Buffers

  • ZGC on macOS - (Experimental)

  • ZGC on Windows - (Experimental)

  • Foreign-Memory Access API - (Incubator)

• Removals

  • Pack200 tools and API removed.

  • Deprecate the Solaris and SPARC Ports.

  • Remove the Concurrent Mark Sweep (CMS) Garbage Collector.

  • Deprecate the ParallelScavenge + SerialOld GC combination.

• Java 14 made switch expressions standard, and introduced records and pattern matching for instanceof as preview features. It also kept text blocks in preview with refinements.

• It also brought tooling/runtime work such as JFR event streaming, and the migration guide later notes that jpackage had already entered as an incubated tool in this era.

• This is where the modern data-modeling path starts, but records are still not final here.

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Java 15 — September 15, 2020

• Core Language Features

  • Text Blocks - (Standard)

  • Sealed Classes - (Preview)

  • Pattern Matching for instanceof - (Second Preview)

  • Records - (Second Preview)

• Core APIs and JVM

  • Edwards-Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (EdDSA)

  • Hidden Classes

  • Reimplemented the legacy DatagramSocket API

  • Foreign-Memory Access API - (Second Incubator)

• Garbage Collection and Runtime

  • ZGC: A Scalable Low-Latency Garbage Collector - (Production Feature)

  • Shenandoah: A Low-Pause-Time Garbage Collector - (Production Feature)

• Removals and Deprecations

  • Removed Nashorn JavaScript Engine

  • Removed Solaris and SPARC ports

  • Deprecated RMI Activation for removal

  • Disabled and deprecated biased locking

• This release is a major step toward modern Java style.

---

Java 16 — March 16, 2021

• Core Language Features

  • Records - (Standard)

  • Pattern matching for instanceof - (Standard)

  • Sealed Classes - (Second Preview)

• Core APIs and Tooling

  • Vector API - (Incubator)

  • Foreign Linker API - (Incubator)

  • Foreign-Memory Access API - (Third Incubator)

  • Packaging Tool

• Runtime and JVM

  • Unix-Domain Socket Channels.

  • Warnings for Value-Based Classes.

  • ZGC: Concurrent Thread-Stack Processing.

  • Elastic Metaspace.

  • Strongly Encapsulate JDK Internals by Default.

  • Alpine Linux Port

  • Windows/AArch64 Port

• Records are safe to use here, and Java 16 is where the Panama path starts looking real.

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Java 17 (LTS) — September 14, 2021

• Core Language Features

  • Sealed Classes - (Standard)

  • Pattern Matching for switch - (Preview)

  • Restore Always-Strict Floating-Point Semantics

• Core APIs and Security

  • Enhanced Pseudo-Random Number Generators

  • Context-Specific Deserialization Filters

  • Deprecate the Applet API for Removal

  • Deprecate the Security Manager for Removal

• JVM and Runtime

  • Strongly Encapsulate JDK Internals

  • Remove RMI Activation

  • Remove the Experimental AOT and JIT Compiler

• Platform and Graphics

  • New macOS Rendering Pipeline for Java 2D API

  • macOS/AArch64 Port

• Incubator APIs

  • Foreign Function & Memory API - (Incubator)

  • Vector API - (Second Incubator)

• This is the clean modern baseline for enterprise Java. If a team is not on 17 or 21, the migration story is usually more important than the feature list.

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Java 18 — March 22, 2022

• Core Language Features

  • UTF-8 as Default Charset

  • Pattern Matching for switch - (Second Preview)

• API & Tooling Enhancements

  • Simple Web Server

  • Code Snippets in JavaDoc

  • Reimplement Core Reflection with Method Handles

  • Internet-Address Resolution SPI

• Incubator APIs

  • Vector API - (Third Incubator)

  • Foreign Function & Memory API - (Second Incubator)

• Deprecation

  • Deprecate Finalization for Removal

• This is a polish release, not a strategic production target.

---

Java 19 — September 20, 2022

• Core Language Features

  • Record Patterns - (Preview)

  • Pattern Matching for switch - (Third Preview)

• Concurrency (Project Loom)

  • Virtual Threads - (Preview)

  • Structured Concurrency - (Incubator)

• Native Interoperability (Project Panama)

  • Foreign Function & Memory API - (Preview)

• Performance & Vectorization

  • Vector API - (Fourth Incubator)

• Platform & Portability

  • Linux/RISC-V Port

• Loom becomes visible here, but nothing in this release should be treated as stable concurrency doctrine yet.

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Java 20 — March 21, 2023

• Core Language Features

  • Record Patterns - (Second Preview)

  • Pattern Matching for switch - (Fourth Preview)

• Concurrency (Project Loom)

  • Virtual Threads - (Second Preview)

  • Structured Concurrency - (Second Incubator)

  • Scoped Values - (Incubator)

• Native Interoperability (Project Panama)

  • Foreign Function & Memory API - (Second Preview)

• Performance & Vectorization

  • Vector API (Fifth Incubator)

• This is stabilization, not finalization.

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Java 21 (LTS) — September 19, 2023

• Core Language & APIs

  • Record Patterns - (Standard)

  • Pattern Matching for switch - (Standard)

  • Sequenced Collections - (Standard)

  • Key Encapsulation Mechanism (KEM) API - (Standard)

  • String Templates - (Preview)

  • Unnamed Patterns and Variables - (Preview)

  • Unnamed Classes and Instance Main Methods - (Preview)

• Concurrency (Project Loom)

  • Virtual Threads - (Standard)

  • Structured Concurrency - (Preview)

  • Scoped Values - (Preview)

• Native Interoperability (Project Panama)

  • Foreign Function & Memory API - (Third Preview)

• Runtime, Performance & JVM

  • Generational ZGC - (Standard)

  • Vector API - (Sixth Incubator)

  • Prepare to Disallow the Dynamic Loading of Agents - (Standard)

  • Deprecate the Windows 32-bit x86 Port for Removal - (Deprecated)

• This is the modern concurrency and pattern-matching baseline. For new production work, 21 is the safest modern target if your stack is ready for it.

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Java 22 — March 19, 2024

• Core Language & APIs

  • Unnamed Variables & Patterns - (Standard)

  • Foreign Function & Memory API - (Standard)

  • Statements before super(...) - (Preview)

  • String Templates - (Second Preview)

  • Implicitly Declared Classes and Instance Main Methods - (Second Preview)

  • Class-File API - (Preview)

  • Stream Gatherers - (Preview)

  • Launch Multi-File Source-Code Programs - (Standard)

• Concurrency (Project Loom)

  • Structured Concurrency → (Second Preview)

  • Scoped Values → (Second Preview)

• Runtime & Performance

  • Region Pinning for G1 → (Standard)

  • Vector API → (Seventh Incubator)

• Panama crosses a major line here, but most of the “new syntax” story is still in preview.

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Java 23 — September 17, 2024

• Core Language & APIs

  • Primitive Types in Patterns, instanceof, and switch - (Preview)

  • Module Import Declarations - (Preview)

  • Flexible Constructor Bodies - (Second Preview)

  • Implicitly Declared Classes and Instance Main Methods - (Third Preview)

  • Class-File API - (Second Preview)

  • Stream Gatherers - (Second Preview)

  • Markdown Documentation Comments - (New)

  • Vector API - (Eighth Incubator)

• Concurrency (Project Loom)

  • Structured Concurrency - (Third Preview)

  • Scoped Values - (Third Preview)

• Runtime and JVM

  • ZGC Generational Mode is now the default.

  • sun.misc.Unsafe memory-access methods are deprecated for removal.

  • Thread.suspend(), Thread.resume(), ThreadGroup.suspend(), ThreadGroup.resume(), and ThreadGroup.stop() were removed.

  • javac annotation processing is disabled by default unless you enable it explicitly.

  • String Templates were withdrawn and do not ship in JDK 23.

• Java 23 is a heavy experimentation release. Read it for direction, not for stability.

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Java 24 — March 18, 2025

• Core Language & APIs

  • Primitive Types in Patterns, instanceof, and switch - (Second Preview)

  • Module Import Declarations - (Second Preview)

  • Flexible Constructor Bodies - (Third Preview)

  • Simple Source Files and Instance Main Methods - (Fourth Preview)

  • Class-File API - (Standard)

  • Stream Gatherers - (Standard)

  • Key Derivation Function API → (Preview)

  • Linking Run-Time Images without JMODs

  • Quantum-Resistant Module-Lattice-Based Key Encapsulation Mechanism

  • Quantum-Resistant Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm

• Concurrency (Project Loom)

  • Structured Concurrency - (Fourth Preview)

  • Scoped Values - (Fourth Preview)

  • Synchronize Virtual Threads without Pinning - (New)

• Runtime & JVM

  • Ahead-of-Time Class Loading & Linking

  • Late Barrier Expansion for G1

  • ZGC: Remove the Non-Generational Mode - (Change)

  • Vector API - (Ninth Incubator)

  • Restrict the use of JNI (warnings introduced) - (Change)

  • Remove the Windows 32-bit x86 Port - (Removed)

  • Deprecate the 32-bit x86 Port for Removal - (Deprecated)

  • Warn upon Use of Memory-Access Methods in sun.misc.Unsafe - (Change)

  • Permanently Disable the Security Manager - (Removed)

• Experimental

  • Generational Shenandoah - (Experimental)

  • Compact Object Headers - (Experimental)

• This release is important for JVM internals and startup work, not because you should adopt every new preview feature.

---

Java 25 (LTS) — September 16, 2025

• Core Language & APIs

  • Primitive Types in Patterns, instanceof, and switch - (Third Preview)

  • Module Import Declarations - (Standard)

  • Compact Source Files and Instance Main Methods - (Standard)

  • Flexible Constructor Bodies - (Standard)

  • Stable Values - (Preview)

• Concurrency (Project Loom)

  • Structured Concurrency - (Fifth Preview)

  • Scoped Values - (Standard)

• Security & Cryptography

  • PEM Encodings of Cryptographic Objects - (Preview)

  • Key Derivation Function API - (Standard)

• Runtime & JVM

  • Remove the 32-bit x86 Port - (Removed)

  • Vector API - (Tenth Incubator)

  • Compact Object Headers - (Standard)

  • Ahead-of-Time Command-Line Ergonomics

  • Ahead-of-Time Method Profiling

  • JFR Cooperative Sampling - (Standard)

  • JFR Method Timing & Tracing - (Standard)

  • Generational Shenandoah - (Standard)

• Experimental

  • JFR CPU-Time Profiling - (Experimental)

• This is the next enterprise baseline after 21. Treat it as a serious candidate for new greenfield work once your libraries and platform support it.

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Java 26 — March 17, 2026

• Core Language & APIs

  • Primitive Types in Patterns, instanceof, and switch → (Fourth Preview)

• Libraries & Security

  • HTTP/3 for the HTTP Client API → (Standard)

  • PEM Encodings of Cryptographic Objects → (Second Preview)

  • Lazy Constants → (Second Preview)

• Concurrency (Project Loom)

  • Structured Concurrency → (Sixth Preview)

• Runtime & JVM

  • Prepare to Make Final Mean Final → (Change)

  • Remove the Applet API → (Removed)

  • Ahead-of-Time Object Caching with Any GC → (Standard)

  • G1 GC: Improve Throughput by Reducing Synchronization → (Standard)

  • Vector API → (Eleventh Incubator)

• Java 26 is a feature bridge, not an LTS target. It is useful if you care about the newest runtime, security, and performance work.

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Java 27 — September 2026

• Post-Quantum Hybrid TLS → Planned (JEP)

• Not GA yet as of now. OpenJDK already publishes JDK 27 early-access builds, and the draft release notes say the contents are still subject to change. The draft notes currently mention post-quantum hybrid key exchange for TLS 1.3 as a feature under consideration.

Major projects in OpenJDK

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