Java 17 Sees Surge in Adoption: 35% of Production Applications Use It, New Report Shows
Java 17, officially released in September 2021 as a Long Term Support (LTS) version, has solidified its position as the most widely used LTS version of the Java language. According to New Relic’s 2024 State of the Java Ecosystem report, released on April 30, Java 17’s adoption has surged significantly, now used in more than 35% of Java applications in production. This marks a dramatic increase from the 9.1% adoption rate reported in 2023.
Java 17, also known as JDK 17, has outpaced Java 11—its predecessor from September 2018—as the most popular LTS version. The report highlights that Java 17’s adoption has exceeded Java 11’s, underscoring a shift in developer preference towards newer, long-term stable releases. However, Java 21, released in 2023, is also seeing a rapid increase in adoption, with its uptake in the first six months post-release being 287% higher compared to the initial adoption rate of Java 17.
In contrast, non-LTS versions of Java remain less popular, with fewer than 2% of Java applications using these short-term releases. This aligns with the general trend, as non-LTS versions receive only six months of support, whereas LTS versions are supported for multiple years, making them more attractive for production environments.
New Relic’s report is derived from data collected throughout 2024 from hundreds of thousands of applications monitored by its observability software. The findings provide a snapshot of current trends in the Java ecosystem, offering insights into the preferences and practices of Java developers.
In addition to Java version adoption, the report reveals other notable trends. Eclipse Adoptium has emerged as a significant player in the JDK distribution space, with 18.2% of applications using it. However, Oracle continues to lead the market, with its JDK used by 20.8% of applications, though this is a decrease from its dominant 75% market share in 2020.
The report also highlights Oracle Database as the most popular database system among Java applications, used by 17.3% of applications. PostgreSQL follows at 14.4%. In the realm of logging frameworks, Log4j maintains its position as the most widely used, with 76.4% of applications relying on it. For encryption, Bouncy Castle is the top choice, holding a 17.1% share.
Finally, New Relic notes a significant trend in application deployment: an 18% increase in the number of applications running on four or fewer cores, with 68% of applications falling into this category. This shift may reflect broader changes in application architecture and resource utilization within the Java ecosystem.