Oracle released Java 27 on September 15, 2026, adding post-quantum cryptography support to its flagship programming platform as part of a broader set of security, performance, and productivity changes.
Java 27 carries nine JDK Enhancement Proposals focused on security, performance, and developer productivity. Its most prominent addition is post-quantum cryptography: the release introduces hybrid key exchange for TLS 1.3 to defend communications against future quantum-computing threats, along with support for the ML-KEM and ML-DSA post-quantum algorithms.
Security and compliance improvements include PEM encodings of cryptographic objects and in-process JFR (Java Flight Recorder) data redaction. Oracle also added Jipher 20, which wraps a FIPS 140-3 validated OpenSSL cryptographic module. The module has been incorporated into Oracle's Java Verified Portfolio, bringing Oracle-backed support to the offering.
Performance changes default to the G1 garbage collector across all environments, replacing previous defaults, and enable compact object headers by default to reduce memory overhead.
On the developer side, several features moved through preview stages. Structured concurrency entered its seventh preview, primitive types in patterns for instanceof and switch reached their fifth preview, and lazy constants were in their third preview. The Vector API, aimed at accelerating analytics and AI inference workloads, entered its twelfth incubation phase.
Early access for JDK 28 was also highlighted. Previews include Project Valhalla, which seeks to narrow the gap between Java objects and primitives through value classes, and continued development on Project Leyden, focused on improving startup time and memory footprint.
Alongside the core JDK, Oracle released Helidon 27, a microservices framework built around virtual threads that now includes new modules for gRPC and messaging. JavaFX 27 delivered interface-building updates, including a metal rendering pipeline for macOS.
Oracle noted that its own Cloud Infrastructure is the first cloud provider to support Oracle JDK 27. The Oracle Java SE Universal Subscription continues to encompass the Java Verified Portfolio and Java Management Service.
