Java 21 is released! Virtual threads and AI interfaces make a stunning debut, and the LTS version will continue to be supported for 8 years

Yesterday evening, Oracle announced the official version of Java 21 and the corresponding JDK 21 development kit. This version is the latest long-term support (LTS) version after JDK 17 and will receive at least 8 years of support. support.

Java 21 boasts thousands of performance, stability, and security improvements. The new JDK 21 includes early access to 15 improvements announced at the Oracle CloudWorld 2023 conference, including support for virtual threads to improve overall throughput and added support for the Vector Application Programming Interface (API), which Build Java applications involving artificial intelligence AI models more easily.

Java 21 also introduces the new Generational ZGC garbage collection mechanism and will deprecate the 32-bit x86 interface that is being removed.

Important updates available in Java 21 include:

Project Loom Features

• Virtual Threads: Significantly simplifies writing by introducing lightweight virtual threads to the Java platform , maintain and observe the process of high-throughput concurrent applications. Virtual threads help accelerate application development by enabling developers to easily troubleshoot, debug, and analyze concurrent applications and extend them using existing JDK tools and technologies.
• Scope Values ​​(Preview) : Allows sharing of immutable data within and between threads. This helps improve the usability, understandability, robustness, and performance of developer projects.
• Structured Concurrency (Preview) : Simplify concurrent programming by introducing a structured concurrency API, which helps promote a A concurrent programming style that eliminates common risks arising from cancellation and shutdown (such as thread leaks and cancellation delays) and makes concurrent programming more efficient. Observability of concurrent code. This helps developers simplify error handling and cancellation, improve reliability, and enhance observability.

Performance Update

• Generational ZGC: By Scaling Z Garbage Collector (ZGC) to maintain different generations of new and old objects, thereby improving application performance. Generational ZGC helps improve developer productivity by reducing the heap memory and garbage collection CPU overhead required by applications and reducing the risk of allocation stalls.

Language Updates and Improvements

• String Templates (Preview) : Simplify the development of Java programs by easily expressing strings containing values ​​calculated at runtime, and improve the security of programs that form strings from user-supplied values ​​and pass them to other systems. Additionally, the readability of expressions that mix text and expressions is enhanced, and non-string values ​​calculated from literal text and embedded expressions can be created without going through an intermediate string representation. This makes the Java language more readable, writable, and maintainable, helping to increase developer productivity.
• Record Mode (Third Preview) : Deconstruct instances of record classes via extended pattern matching and enable adding nested patterns to enhance the Java language. This enables developers to extend pattern matching to more complex and composable data queries, which helps improve productivity.
• Pattern matching for Switch: Extends the expressiveness and applicability of switch expressions and statements by allowing patterns to appear in case labels. Additionally, the safety of switch statements is improved by requiring that mode switch statements cover all possible input values ​​and that all existing switch expressions and statements can continue to compile without any changes and execute with the same semantics.This helps developers simplify and improve the reliability of their projects by making the Java language more semantic, allowing complex data-oriented queries to be expressed concisely and safely.
• Unnamed Patterns and Variables (Preview) : Match logged components by enabling unnamed patterns without stating the name of the component or types, and unnamed variables that can be initialized but not used, thereby enhancing the Java language. This helps simplify the development process by making the recorded schema more readable and improving the maintainability of all code.
• Unnamed Class and Instance Main Methods (Preview) : Helps simplify and improve the accessibility of the Java language for educators Programming concepts can be introduced gradually. By avoiding the introduction of a separate Java beginner's dialect and a separate beginner's toolchain, student programs can be compiled and run using the same tools that compile and run any Java program, helping students write basic programs in a concise manner and extend the code elegantly As their skills improve. This helps increase the productivity of student developers, allowing them to write their first programs without having to understand language features designed for larger programs.

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