Every six months a new version of Java is released which introduces new features and improvements that make the lives of Java developers easier.

This article will

• List only the most important features that every java developer must know.
• Focus only on new Java programming language features.
• Ignore features that are deprecated or removed during a particular release.
• Ignore most of the enhancements of existing features, performance improvements, and bug fixes.
• Only include features added Java 5 onwards.

Note: Most features introduced in an older version of Java are usually carried forwarded to newer versions of Java. Some of these features may undergo few enhancements over the years.

Java SE 17 (LTS)

GA Release: September 2021

Current Status: Long-Term Support – September 2030

Latest Version: NIL

• TBD

Java SE 16

GA Release: March 2021

Current Status: End of Life – September 2021

Latest Version: NIL

• Warnings for Value-Based Classes
• Packaging Tool
• Pattern Matching for instanceof
• Records
• Strongly Encapsulate JDK Internals by Default

Java SE 15

GA Release: September 15, 2020

Current Status: End of Life – March 2021

Latest Version: 15.0.1

• isEmpty Default Method to CharSequence
• Hidden Classes
• Specialized Implementations of TreeMap Methods
• Text Blocks
• Shenandoah: A Low-Pause-Time Garbage Collector
• ZGC: A Scalable Low-Latency Garbage Collector

For more features refer Java 15 Release Notes on New Features

Java SE 14

GA Release: March 17, 2020

Current Status: End of Life – September 2020

Latest Version: 14.0.2

• Helpful NullPointerExceptions messages
• Improved Switch Expressions

For more features refer Java 14 Release Notes on New Features

Java SE 13

GA Release: September 17, 2019

Current Status: End of Life – March 2020

Latest Version: 13.0.2

• String API Changes

For more features refer Java 13 Release Notes on New Features

Java SE 12

GA Release: March 19, 2019

Current Status: End of Life – September 2019

Latest Version: 12.0.2

• String API Changes
• Collectors.teeing() in Stream API
• Compact Number Formatting

For more features refer Java 12 Release Notes on New Features

Java SE 11 (LTS)

GA Release: September 25, 2018

Current Status: Long-Term Support – September 2026

Latest Version: 11.0.9

• HTTP Client API
• Launch Single-File Source-Code Programs
• String API Changes
• Files.readString() and Files.writeString()

For more features refer Java 11 Release Notes on New Features

Java SE 10

GA Release: March 20, 2018

Current Status: End of Life – September 2018

Latest Version: 10.0.2

• Local Variable Type Inference

For more features refer Java 10 Release Notes on New Features

Java SE 9

GA Release: September 21, 2017

Current Status: End of Life – March 2018

Latest Version: 9.0.4

• Java Platform Module System
• takeWhile / dropWhile methods in Streams
• Concise try-with-resources Statements
• Private interface methods
• jshell CLI

For more features refer Java 9 Release Notes on New Features

Java SE 8 (LTS)

GA Release: March 18, 2014

Current Status: Long-Term Support – December 2030

Latest Version: 8u271

• forEach method in iterable interface
• Lambda Expressions
• Functional Interfaces
• Default and Static methods in interfaces
• Stream API
• Date-Time Packages

For more features refer Java 8 Release Notes on New Features

Java SE 7

GA Release: July 7, 2011

Current Status: Extended Support Until – July 2022

Latest Version: 7u80

• Strings in switch Statements
• The try-with-resources Statement
• Underscores in Numeric Literals
• Binary Literals
• Diamond Operator for Generic Instance Creation
• Catching Multiple Exception Types
• Non-blocking I/O

For more features refer Java 7 Release Notes on New Features

Java SE 6

GA Release: December 11, 2006

Current Status: End of Life – December 2018

Latest Version: 6u45

• Collections Framework Enhancements
• Enhancements in Java I/O
• java.lang.instrument Package Enhancements
• java.util.ServiceLoader
• Scripting for the Java Platform

For more features refer Java 6 Release Notes on New Features

Java SE 5.0

GA Release: September 30, 2004

Current Status: End of Life – April 2015

Latest Version: 1.5.0_22

• Java Generics
• Annotations and Annotations Processing Tool
• Autoboxing/Unboxing
• Typesafe Enums
• Varargs
• Static Import
• Enhanced for loop
• java.util.concurrent Package
• java.util.Scanner Class

For more features refer Java 5.0 Release Notes on New Features