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Java Versioning

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Oracle has changed how new versions of Java is going to be released. This write-up explains the new versioning process and how Java updates had been getting released lately.

Earlier Java Releases:

  • Java versions earlier than JDK 8 used to follow more of a β€œWaterfall” development approach.

  • At the beginning of a release cycle, a list of new features that are going to be included in the upcoming version of Java are decided and the new version is not released until all features are complete.

  • Earlier versions of Java used to be released every 2 to 3 years.

Recent Releases:

  • Lately Java has moved to 6 months cycle - updates are now released March and September of every year.

  • Releases are following more of an β€œAgile” approach meaning all features that are complete will make it to the release. Release will not be delayed due to incomplete features. Incomplete features will be part of future versions.

  • As promised, Java versions have been getting released every six months with the latest version of version 14 released recently.

Licensing, Support and Bug Fixes:

  • Oracle JDK (from JDK 11) can only be used in production with a commercial support contract.

  • The only free JDK 11 and later will be Open JDK binaries.

  • Free updates for Open JDK versions would be available until next release that is typically every 6 months.

  • JDK 8 provided by Oracle can be used indefinitely for free.

  • Public updates of JDK 8 for commercial use are supported until Jan, 2019. Personal use updates are extended until 2020.

  • If commercial applications need stability, need to move on to paid version of Java.

  • Only certain releases are marked as long-term support releases with security updates and bug fixes available for more than 6 months.

  • There will be an LTS release roughly every 3 years.

Deprecation and Clean-ups:


Java has been in development for 24 years. There are about 4,000 public classes in JDK 8. In order to keep the codebase clean, Oracle has announced that older/unused features would be deprecated and cleaned up more often than it used to be.

Conclusion:


Java has been moving faster with versioning changes. Enterprise applications using Java, should move along faster with Java upgrades to keep up with these release changes.

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