Java 26 Is Here: What's New, What's Gone, and Why It Matters in 2026 (#92)

About this episode

This episode discusses the features and changes in Java 26, including new JEPs and performance improvements.

Welcome to another episode of the Foojay Podcast! In this episode, we're talking about Java 26, released on March 17 in the year 26. Again, right on schedule with Java's six-month release cadence. Now, Java 26 is not a Long Term Support (LTS) release; that was Java 25. But don't let that fool you into thinking there's nothing interesting here. This release brings ten JDK Enhancement Proposals (JEPs). They cover everything from performance improvements to long-overdue cleanups. Of those ten JEPS, five are new features, and we also get five preview/incubator features. Guests Simon Ritter https://www.linkedin.com/in/siritter/ Loïc Mathieu https://www.linkedin.com/in/lo%C3%AFc-mathieu-475b144/ Content 00:00 Introduction of topic and guests 01:35 Differences between Long and Short Term Support 05:10 Which Java versions are used by companies https://foojay.io/today/foojay-podcast-90-highlights-of-the-java-features-between-lts-21-and-25/ 07:54 Internal changes and improvements in release 26, highlighting UUIDv7 support https://foojay.io/today/java-26-whats-new/ 12:02 JEP 500 : Prepare to Make Final Mean Final 13:24 JEP 526 : Lazy Constants (Second Preview) 16:12 JEP 517 : HTTP/3 for the…

People in this episode

Host: Foojay.io

Guests: Simon Ritter, Loïc Mathieu

Topics covered

• Java 26
• JDK Enhancement Proposals
• performance improvements
• UUIDv7 support
• HTTP/3
• cryptographic objects
• Ahead-of-Time Object Caching

Keywords

• Java 26
• JEPs
• performance improvements
• UUIDv7
• HTTP/3
• cryptography
• Ahead-of-Time Caching

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Foojay.io

Products: Java 26, Java 25

Books & works: JEP 500, JEP 526, JEP 517, JEP 504, JEP 524, JEP 516

More episodes of Foojay.io, the Friends Of OpenJDK!

• The End of JNI Pain: How WebAssembly Is Quietly Replacing Native Libraries in Java (#98) · June 13, 2026 · 44 min
• From Scripting Language to AI Powerhouse: How BoxLang Is Redefining JVM Development (#97) · May 30, 2026 · 49 min
• Run 35 AWS Services Locally FREE: Floci, Quarkus and GraalVM-Powered, LocalStack Alternative (#96) · May 23, 2026 · 36 min
• Is Your Java App Actually Secure, Or Does It Just Look That Way? (#95) · May 9, 2026 · 1h 6m
• More Than a Blog: How Foojay Connects, Sustains, and Evolves the Java Community (#94) · May 2, 2026 · 60 min
• Update Your JDK, Read More Code, and Talk to Your Users: Interviews From VoxxedDays Amsterdam (#93) · April 11, 2026 · 1h 9m