Oracle unveils Java development plans for 2026

Oracle’s Java team in 2026 will work toward milestones including a preview of value types, an incubation of code reflection, shipping AOT (ahead-of-time) code compilation, and finalizing the structured concurrency API.

These efforts and many others under OpenJDK projects such as Project Loom, for exploring JVM (Java Virtual Machine) features and APIs for implementing lightweight user-mode threads, and Project Valhalla, for augmenting the Java object model with value objects, were cited in a January 8 video presentation by Nicolai Parlog, a Java developer advocate at Oracle. Work on these features, though, does not imply they will be released in 2026.

AOT code compilation is part of Project Leyden, which is intended to improve startup time, time to peak performance, and the footprint of Java programs. The goals for AOT code compilation include improving startup and warmup time by making native code from a previous application run instantly available, when the HotSpot JVM starts. Project Leyden also will explore code cache portability and iterative training, allowing frameworks to train the cache. Inspectability of training data also will be examined.

Plans for Project Amber, which focuses on producing smaller, productivity-oriented Java language features, include exploring string templates and filing JEPs (JDK Enhancement Proposals) for constant patterns and interfaces. There may also be updates on record-esque classes and interfaces and on more inclusive pattern matching.

With Project Loom, Parlog said that the structured concurrency API, for concurrent programming, will preview with small changes in JDK 26 and will likely be finalized by the end of the year. Currently in a rampdown phase, JDK 26 is due for a production release on March 17. Also on the agenda for Loom is exploring more applications of virtual threads.

For Project Panama, which focuses on improving connections between the JVM and non-Java APIs, the vector API planned for JDK 26 will see its 11th incubation. Also on the agenda for Panama in 2026 are general improvements to the jextract tool for parsing header files of native libraries and generating code. Improvements also are eyed for the Foreign Function and Memory API, which enables Java programs to interoperate with code and data outside the Java runtime.

For Project Babylon, which aims at extending Java to foreign programming models such as SQL, plans include incubating code reflection, which allows third-party frameworks to reflect over Java code in a lambda expression and process it. The Babylon team will also be working on proofs of concept for using code reflection to run machine learning models on the GPU.

With Project Valhalla, developers will work to deliver a preview of value types in the second half of this year, after which work will focus on null-aware types, array improvements, and unification of primitives and wrappers. Value objects are class instances that have only final fields and lack object identity. They allow developers to opt into a programming model for domain values in which objects are distinguished solely by the values of their fields.