We are happy to announce the general availability of Liberica JDK 19. As it is the major Java version, it contains numerous fixes and enhancements:
- 2,422 fixes overall — 2,220 in JDK and 222 in FX. BellSoft engineers resolved 10 issues
- 7 JEPS with new or improved features
You can download the builds now by heading straight to Liberica JDK Download Center. Or read on if you are wondering why you should bother with a non-LTS release!
Non-LTS version — why should you care?
With LTS versions coming out every two years and functional releases made available every six months, Java keeps pace with the latest IT trends. The emphasis in the development of the Java language is currently placed on the introduction of modern tools for efficient concurrent programming, so the highlights of this release are
- JEP 425: Virtual Threads (Preview) introduces lightweight threads not tied to an OS thread for the whole lifetime. Multiple threads can share one OS thread, so the application can use thousands of virtual threads to perform concurrent tasks. At the same time, they are easy to debug and profile and carry no risks associated with asynchronous programming
- JEP 428 Structured Concurrency (Incubator) is aimed at improving the reliability and performance of Java multithreading by coordinating the threads within a dedicated syntactic block
The OpenJDK community doesn’t stop there, though. Apart from receiving APIs for performant and secure multithreading, Java enjoys better security (JEP 424: Foreign Function & Memory API), a more convenient coding process (JEP 405: Record Patterns), additional features for specific use cases (JEP 426: Vector API), and so on. A detailed analysis of all JDK 19 JEPs can be found in our article dedicated to the topic.
The point is — the further away you are from the current LTS version, the fewer modern features you can utilize in your application. BellSoft supports all the previous Java versions, including the most popular Java 8 and even Java 6 & 7, so you are safe with us. But if high throughput is essential for your application, you will benefit most from new Java.
Give JDK 19 a test drive and see what it is capable of — there is a high chance you will start planning your migration strategy!
Download the latest version now!
We understand that migration takes time and effort, but switching from Java 8 to 11 or even 17 is not impossible. BellSoft supports LTS versions longer than Oracle or any other OpenJDK vendor, so you can move at your own pace.
Meanwhile, experiment with Java 19. A wide variety of new tools, enhanced security and concurrency will be a great incentive to embrace changes brought to you by the OpenJDK community!
