The Eclipse Foundation’s Jakarta EE working group has unveiled Jakarta EE 9.1, which includes new Platform and Web Profile specifications designed to enhance compatibility with Java Standard Edition 11. This release allows developers to leverage the features of Java SE 11, the current long-term support (LTS) release of Java SE, when building and deploying Jakarta EE applications. Jakarta EE 9.1 also maintains support for Java SE 8, offering flexibility for teams working with different versions of Java.
With Jakarta EE 9.1, developers can seamlessly incorporate Java SE 11 features into their enterprise applications. One of the key benefits of this release is that developers can migrate existing Jakarta EE 9 applications to Java SE 11 without requiring any changes to the code. This ensures a smooth transition and gives developers the ability to take advantage of the latest features and performance improvements in Java SE 11.
The Jakarta EE Developer Survey from 2020 revealed a significant rise in the adoption of Java SE 11, with usage growing from 20 percent in 2019 to 28 percent in 2020. This trend underscores the importance of Jakarta EE 9.1’s alignment with Java SE 11, as it enables enterprises to adopt newer Java versions while maintaining compatibility with existing systems. This shift in the Java ecosystem is seen as a positive move towards modernizing enterprise applications and improving cloud-native capabilities.
Released on May 25, Jakarta EE 9.1 marks the first incremental release of the Jakarta EE platform, signaling a change from the traditional large annual releases to smaller, more frequent updates. This change is designed to better meet the needs of enterprises building cloud-native applications. For organizations already using Java EE 8 or Jakarta EE 8, migrating to Jakarta EE 9.1 follows the same process as migrating to Jakarta EE 9, making it a straightforward upgrade path for most businesses.