Java Versions

JDK Versions

The various JDK versions are:

  1. JDK Alpha and Beta (1995): Sun announced Java in September 23, 1995.
  2. JDK 1.0 (January 23, 1996): Originally called Oak (named after the oak tree outside James Gosling's office). Renamed to Java 1 in JDK 1.0.2.
  3. JDK 1.1 (February 19, 1997): Introduced AWT event model, inner class, JavaBean, JDBC, and RMI.
  4. J2SE 1.2 (JDK 1.2) (December 8, 1998): Re-branded as "Java 2" and renamed JDK to J2SE (Java 2 Standard Edition). Also released J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) and J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition). Included JFC (Java Foundation Classes - Swing, Accessibility API, Java 2D, Pluggable Look and Feel and Drag and Drop). Introduced Collection Framework and JIT compiler.
  5. J2SE 1.3 (JDK 1.3) (May 8, 2000): Introduced Hotspot JVM.
  6. J2SE 1.4 (JDK 1.4) (February 6, 2002): Introduced assert, non-blocking IO (nio), logging API, image IO, Java webstart, regular expression support.
  7. J2SE 5.0 (JDK 1.5) (September 30, 2004): Officially called 5.0 instead of 1.5. Introduced generics, autoboxing/unboxing, annotation, enum, varargs, for-each loop, static import.
  8. Java SE 6 (JDK 1.6) (December 11, 2006): Renamed J2SE to Java SE (Java Standard Edition).
  9. Java SE 7 (JDK 1.7) (July 28, 2011): First version after Oracle purchased Sun (called Oracle JDK).
  10. Java SE 8 (JDK 1.8) (March 18, 2014): included support for Lambda expressions, default and static methods in interfaces, improved collection, and JavaScript runtime. Also integrated JavaFX graphics subsystem.
  11. Java SE 9 (JDK 9) (September 21, 2017): introduced modularization of the JDK (module) under project Jigsaw, the Java Shell (jshell), and more.
  12. Java SE 10 (18.3) (JDK 10) (March, 2018): introduced var for type inference local variable (similar to JavaScript). There will be 2 releases each year, in March and September, denoted as yy.m.
  13. Java SE 11 (18.9 LTS) (JDK 11) (September, 2018): extended var to lambda expression. Standardize HTTP client in java.net.http. Support TLS 1.3. Clean up the JDK and the installation package.

Views: 625

Comment

You need to be a member of Codetown to add comments!

Join Codetown

Happy 10th year, JCertif!

Notes

Welcome to Codetown!

Codetown is a social network. It's got blogs, forums, groups, personal pages and more! You might think of Codetown as a funky camper van with lots of compartments for your stuff and a great multimedia system, too! Best of all, Codetown has room for all of your friends.

When you create a profile for yourself you get a personal page automatically. That's where you can be creative and do your own thing. People who want to get to know you will click on your name or picture and…
Continue

Created by Michael Levin Dec 18, 2008 at 6:56pm. Last updated by Michael Levin May 4, 2018.

Looking for Jobs or Staff?

Check out the Codetown Jobs group.

 

Enjoy the site? Support Codetown with your donation.



InfoQ Reading List

Ramp Builds Internal Coding Agent That Powers 30% of Engineering Pull Requests

Ramp has shared the architecture of Inspect. This internal coding agent has quickly reached about 30% adoption for merged pull requests in the company’s frontend and backend repositories. The fintech company shared a detailed technical specification. It explains how they created a system that gives AI agents the same access to the development environment as human engineers.

By Claudio Masolo

VoidZero Announces Oxfmt Alpha with Rust-Powered Performance and Prettier Compatibility

VoidZero has unveiled Oxfmt, a cutting-edge Rust-based code formatter that offers over 30x faster performance than Prettier for JavaScript and TypeScript projects. Compatible with existing Prettier configurations, Oxfmt addresses developer needs for efficiency and style consistency. Enjoy seamless migration, enhanced capabilities, and a commitment to community-driven improvements.

By Daniel Curtis

Presentation: Kraken's Serverless Architecture for Keeping the Grid Green

Kevin Bowman shares how Kraken Technology balances the UK’s 30GW energy grid using renewable sources. He discusses an architectural blueprint leveraging AWS Lambda, EventBridge, and DynamoDB to manage grid-scale batteries and virtual power plants. Learn how they solve millisecond-latency frequency response and 24-hour predictive optimization to keep the lights on through a serverless stack.

By Kevin Bowman

DoorDash Applies AI to Safety Across Chat and Calls, Cutting Incidents by 50%

DoorDash deploys SafeChat, an AI-driven safety system for moderating chat, images, and voice calls between Dashers and customers. Using a layered text moderation architecture, machine learning models, and human review, SafeChat detects unsafe content in real time, enabling immediate actions and reducing low- and medium-severity safety incidents by roughly 50 percent.

By Leela Kumili

OpenCost Looks Back on 2025 Milestones and Charts a Roadmap for 2026

The OpenCost project, an open-source cost and resource management tool hosted by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), has published a year-in-review reflecting on its progress in 2025 and outlining priorities for 2026.

By Craig Risi

© 2026   Created by Michael Levin.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service