Java Releases and LTS Support
Java was first introduced in 1995 by Sun Microsystems (now owned by Oracle Corporation) and has since become one of the world's most widely used programming languages. The first official JDK release happened on January 23, 1996, and so far, many updates have been released and
What are the latest release versions?
JDK version starts from JDK 1.0 till Java SE 21.
Developers need to care about the LTS(Long term support) versions supported by Oracle. If you run into an issue using an LTS version, Oracle provides support and fixes the bugs in future incremental releases.
The following listed are the LTS versions and support period.
| LTS Version | Release Date | Extended support until |
|---|---|---|
| Java 1.0 to Java SE 7 (old_versions) |
Between Jan 1996 and July 2011 |
Public updates and support ended in 2015 |
| Java SE 8 (LTS) |
18th March 2014 | December 2030 for Oracle, November 2026 for Red Hat |
| Java SE 11 (LTS) |
25th September 2018 | September 2026 for Oracle, September 2026 for Azul, October 2024 for Red Hat |
| Java SE 17 (LTS) |
14th September 2021 | September 2029 or later for Oracle, September 2029 for Azul, October 2027 for Red Hat |
| Java SE 21 (LTS) |
September 2023 | September 2031 for Oracle |
Here is the complete list of Java LTS(long-term support) versions.