The Java language has undergone several changes since JDK 1.0 as well as a number of additions of classes and packages to the standard library. Since J2SE 1.4, the evolution of the Java language has been governed by the Java Community Process (JCP), which uses Java Specification Requests (JSRs) to propose and specify additions and changes to the Java platform. The language is specified by the Java Language Specification (JLS); changes to the JLS are managed under JSR 901. In September 2017, Mark Reinhold, chief architect of the Java Platform, proposed to change the release train to "one feature release every six months" rather than the then-current two-year schedule. This proposal took effect for all following versions, and is still the current release schedule.
In addition to the language changes, other changes have been made to the Java Class Library over the years, which has grown from a few hundred classes in JDK 1.0 to over three thousand in J2SE 5. Entire new APIs, such as Swing and Java2D, have been introduced, and a number of the original JDK 1.0 classes and methods have been deprecated, and very few APIs have been removed (at least one, for threading, in Java 22). Some programs allow the conversion of Java programs from one version of the Java platform to an older one (for example Java 5.0 backported to 1.4) (see Java backporting tools).
Regarding Oracle's Java SE support roadmap, Java SE 25 (LTS) is the latest version as of September 2025 (and Java 26 a later released version) while versions 21, 17, 11 and 8 are the other still supported (long-term support − LTS) versions, where Oracle customers will receive Oracle Premier Support. Oracle continues to release no-cost public Java 8 updates for development and personal use indefinitely.
In the case of OpenJDK, both commercial long-term support and free software updates are available from multiple organizations in the broader community.
Java 27 was released on 15 September 2026 and Java 25 LTS was released on 16 September 2025.
Release table
JDK 1.0
The first version was released on January 23, 1996. The first stable version, JDK 1.0.2, is called Java 1.
It included:
core language features (basic java types in java.lang, and utility classes in java.util) support for graphics (AWT framework) support for creating a Java applet libraries for I/O and networking
JDK 1.1
Major additions in the release on February 19, 1997 included:Version 1.1 press release, Sun. extensive retooling of the Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) event model inner classes added to the language JavaBeans Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) and support for sql Java remote method invocation (RMI) and serialization reflection which supported Introspection only, no modification at runtime was possible. (The ability to modify objects reflectively was added in J2SE 1.2, by introducing the class and its subclasses such as the class.) Just-in-time compilation (JIT) on Microsoft Windows platforms, produced for JavaSoft by Symantec Internationalization and Unicode support originating from Taligent
J2SE 1.2
The release on December 8, 1998 and subsequent releases through J2SE 5.0 were rebranded retrospectively Java 2 and the version name "J2SE" (Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition) replaced JDK to distinguish the base platform from J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) and J2ME (Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition). This was a significant release of Java as it tripled the size of the Java platform to 1520 classes in 59 packages. Major additions included:Version 1.2 press release, Sun. strictfp keyword (by JVM 17 an obsolete keyword, should not be used in new code) The Swing graphical API was integrated into the core classes. Sun's JVM was equipped with a JIT compiler for the first time. Java plug-in Java IDL, an IDL implementation for CORBA interoperability Collections framework
J2SE 1.3
The most notable changes in the May 8, 2000 release were:Version 1.3 press release, Sun. HotSpot JVM included (the HotSpot JVM was first released in April 1999 for the J2SE 1.2 JVM) RMI was modified to support optional compatibility with CORBA. Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) included in core libraries (previously available as an extension) Java Platform Debugger Architecture (JPDA) JavaSound Synthetic proxy classes
Java 1.3 is the last release of Java to officially support Microsoft Windows 95.
J2SE 1.4
The February 6, 2002 release was the first release of the Java platform developed under the Java Community Process as JSR 59. Major changes included:Version 1.4 press release. Language changes assert keyword (specified in JSR 41) Library improvements Regular expressions modeled after Perl regular expressions Exception chaining allows an exception to encapsulate original lower-level exception Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) support Non-blocking I/O (named NIO) (specified in JSR 51) Logging API (specified in JSR 47) Image I/O API for reading and writing images in formats like JPEG and PNG Integrated XML parser and XSLT processor (JAXP) (specified in JSR 5 and JSR 63) Integrated security and cryptography extensions (JCE, JSSE, JAAS) Java Web Start included (Java Web Start was first released in March 2001 for J2SE 1.3) (specified in JSR 56) Preferences API (java.util.prefs) Public support and security updates for Java 1.4 ended in October 2008. Paid security updates for Oracle customers ended in February 2013.
Java SE 5
The release on September 30, 2004 was originally numbered 1.5, which is still used as the internal version number. The number was changed to "better reflect the level of maturity, stability, scalability and security of the J2SE". This version was developed under JSR 176.
Java SE 5 entered its end-of-public-updates period on April 8, 2008; updates are no longer available to the public as of November 3, 2009. Updates were available to paid Oracle customers until May 2015.
Tiger added a number of significant new language features:Version 1.5 press release.Version 1.5 full list of changes. Generics: provides compile-time (static) type safety for collections and eliminates the need for most typecasts (type conversion) (specified by JSR 14) Metadata: also called annotations; allows language constructs such as classes and methods to be tagged with additional data, which can then be processed by metadata-aware utilities (specified by JSR 175) Autoboxing/unboxing: automatic conversions between primitive types (such as int) and primitive wrapper classes (such as ) (specified by JSR 201) Enumerations: the enum keyword creates a typesafe, ordered list of values (such as Day.MONDAY, Day.TUESDAY, etc.); previously this could only be achieved by non-typesafe constant integers or manually constructed classes (typesafe enum pattern) (specified by JSR 201) Varargs: the last parameter of a method can now be declared using a type name followed by three dots (e.g. void drawtext(String... lines)); in the calling code any number of parameters of that type can be used and they are then placed in an array to be passed to the method, or alternatively the calling code can pass an array of that type Enhanced for each loop: the for loop syntax is extended with special syntax for iterating over each member of either an array or any , such as the standard classes (specified by JSR 201) Improved semantics of execution for multi-threaded Java programs; the new Java memory model addresses issues of complexity, effectiveness, and performance of previous specifications Static imports
There were also the following improvements to the standard libraries: Automatic stub generation for RMI objects Swing: New skinnable look and feel, called synth The concurrency utilities in package java.util.concurrent Scanner class for parsing data from various input streams and buffers
Java 5 is the last release of Java to officially support Microsoft Windows 98 and Windows ME, while Windows Vista was the newest version of Windows that Java SE 5 was supported on prior to Java 5 going end-of-life in October 2009.
Java 5 Update 5 (1.5.0_05) is the last release of Java to work on Windows 95 (with Internet Explorer 5.5 installed) and Windows NT 4.0.
Java 5 was first available on Apple Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and was the default version of Java installed on Apple Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard).
Public support and security updates for Java 1.5 ended in November 2009. Paid security updates for Oracle customers ended in April 2015.
Versioning change This version introduced a new versioning system for the Java language, although the old versioning system continued to be used for developer libraries:
This correspondence continued through later releases (Java 6 = JDK 1.6, Java 7 = JDK 1.7, and so on).
Java SE 6
As of the version released on December 11, 2006, Sun replaced the name "J2SE" with Java SE and dropped the ".0" from the version number.Java brand naming. Internal numbering for developers remains 1.6.0.Version 6, Java webnotes, Sun.
This version was developed under JSR 270.
During the development phase, new builds including enhancements and bug fixes were released approximately weekly. Beta versions were released in February and June 2006, leading up to a final release that occurred on December 11, 2006.
Major changes included in this version:Version 1.6 press release.Version 1.6 full list of changes. Support for older Win9x versions dropped; unofficially, Java 6 Update 7 was the last release of Java shown to work on these versions of Windows. This is believed to be due to the major changes in Update 10. Scripting Language Support (JSR 223): Generic API for tight integration with scripting languages, and built-in Mozilla JavaScript Rhino integration. Dramatic performance improvements for the core platform,. and Swing. Improved Web Service support through JAX-WS (JSR 224). JDBC 4.0 support (JSR 221). Java Compiler API (JSR 199): an API allowing a Java program to select and invoke a Java Compiler programmatically. Upgrade of JAXB to version 2.0: Including integration of a StAX parser. Support for pluggable annotations (JSR 269). Many GUI improvements, such as integration of SwingWorker in the API, table sorting and filtering, and true Swing double-buffering (eliminating the gray-area effect). JVM improvements include: synchronization and compiler performance optimizations, new algorithms and upgrades to existing garbage collection algorithms, and application start-up performance.
Java 6 can be installed to Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) running on 64-bit (Core 2 Duo and higher) processor machines. Java 6 is also supported by both 32-bit and 64-bit machines running Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).
Java 6 reached the end of its supported life in February 2013, at which time all public updates, including security updates, were scheduled to be stopped. Oracle released two more updates to Java 6 in March and April 2013, which patched some security vulnerabilities.
Java 6 updates After Java 6 release, Sun, and later Oracle, released several updates which, while not changing any public API, enhanced end-user usability or fixed bugs.