Oracle has released Java 24, the latest version of its development platform and associated programming language. This release includes 24 JDK Enhancement Proposals (JEPs) that should help developers maximize productivity, with a special focus on AI support and post-quantum cryptography.
A key component of this release is support for AI development. The integration of AI into development environments is becoming increasingly important. Java 24 responds to this with features such as the Vector API, which Oracle says provides superior performance for vector computations often used in AI inferencing. This is still in incubation status until Project Valhalla arrives, though.
In addition, Oracle is introducing important security features in the area of post-quantum cryptography. Java 24 includes implementations of the quantum-resistant Module-Lattice-Based Key Encapsulation Mechanism (ML-KEM) and the Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm (ML-DSA).
During a briefing on Java 24 that we attended, Donald Smith, VP of Product Management at Oracle, specifically addressed preparations for post-quantum cryptography. “There isn’t agreement when quantum computers will become available but we need to plan for deprecation of traditional schemes,” he indicates. In itself, this has happened before, he continues. He cites the introduction of TLS 1.3. That was introduced in 2018, while Java 8 was launched back in 2014. However, it was possible to back-port it afterwards. Oracle plans to do the same with support for post-quantum cryptography.
Improvements for developers
Java 24 also offers numerous improvements to the programming language itself. These include JEP 488, which supports primitive types in patterns, instanceof and switch, making the language more uniform and expressive. This is especially useful for developers working on applications that integrate AI inferencing.
For novice programmers, Java 24 introduces JEP 495, which allows students to write their first programs without having to understand complex language features. This is in line with the trend of making programming more accessible, as we see with AI-powered programming tools.
Oracle has also taken developer complaints about Java and tried to solve some. One is that it takes a lot of boiler plate code to create a simple ‘Hello world’. That has been fixed with Java 24.
Adoption and use of Java
Recent research shows that Java continues to dominate the development world. According to a recent Java productivity report, more than 75 percent of developers use AI tools when programming, which is consistent with the new AI-focused features in Java 24.
The new release underscores that Java, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, is still evolving. It has to, to meet the changing needs of developers. The launch of Java 24 coincides with the JavaOne conference, which runs from March 18-20. It is the first time Oracle has given Java its own stage in this way. Often the Java conference has been part of a larger event, such as CloudWorld.
In addition to the (almost) 30th anniversary of Java, it is also the seventh anniversary of Oracle Java SE. With Java Universal SE Subscription Java subscription, Oracle offers customers support for the entire Java portfolio, including access to Oracle GraalVM and the advanced features of the Java Management Service.
Finally, according to Georges Saab, SVP Software Development at Oracle, Java 24 is an excellent time to get in. The next release, Java 25, is coming in September and is an LTS version. So things introduced in Java 24 will quickly get longer-term support.
Oracle itself has written a technical blog about Java 24. You can read that via this link.