Java Turns 30 with Enhanced Data Handling Capabilities

Popular programming language Java turns 30 in May 2025. Ahead of this major milestone, Oracle has unveiled Java 24, with 24 Java Enhancement Proposals (JEPs), a group of features aimed at enhancing developer productivity and the language’s cross-platform capabilities. While Java has been a cornerstone in software development for decades, this latest version introduces updates that speak directly to the challenges of today’s increasingly data-heavy applications.

Smarter tools for modern data management challenges

For data management, one of the most important new features of Java 24 is the launch of Compact Object Headers (JEP 450). This enhancement reduces object headers on 64-bit systems – now standard in modern computing environments. Specifically, it improves memory efficiency and supports better data locality, making it a useful new capability for software development teams working with large data sets or high-throughput systems, such as AI workloads and applications. While currently still an experimental feature that’s disabled by default, it’s now available for testing.

Another useful capability—particularly for workloads involving complex data processing pipelines—is the new Stream Gatherers (JEP 485), which allows the Stream API to handle more sophisticated data transformations. This should prove especially useful for developers working with real-time analytics systems or AI applications, which were previously much more challenging to implement. Essentially, it gives developers greater flexibility and control when building data pipelines.

Java 24 also makes it easier to work with primitive data types—of which there are eight—thanks to the JEP 488 update. These are the most basic kinds of data in Java, representing simple values rather than objects. Developers can now use primitives directly in pattern-matching expressions like switch and instanceof, which allows for uniform data exploration. While a small tweak, it should cut down on boilerplate code, potentially making applications a little more efficient under the hood.

Simplified security for today’s complex threat landscape

The Java 24 update also makes some important improvements on the security front. The latest version officially retires the legacy Security Manager (JEP 486), which had already been deprecated in earlier versions in favor of a more modular security framework. The new security features give development teams more granular control over how they protect sensitive data and access controls.

Java 24 brings a lot to the table in an era when data management is becoming more complicated due to increasingly massive data sets—particularly in the case of AI workloads and applications. In earlier releases, developers had limited tools for optimizing memory usage or streamlining complex data pipelines—issues that become magnified in large-scale AI and analytics applications. The newest functions tackle these limitations to help developers keep pace with the unique demands of real-time computing, machine learning, and increasingly stringent security requirements.