I still see it. I see it in production logs, I see it in Stack Overflow questions, and I see it in job descriptions that should know better. Java 8. It’s been twelve years. Twelve. In tech years, that’s basically the Jurassic period.
But here we are in January 2026, and the ecosystem is finally—finally—forcing the issue. The first release candidate for JDK 24 just dropped. Spring Framework 7.0 is hitting its milestones. Hibernate 7.0 is out there. If you’ve been clinging to your comfortable legacy baseline because “it just works,” the walls are closing in. And honestly? It’s about time.
I spent the weekend messing around with the JDK 24 RC1 and the new Spring Data 2025.0.0 builds. The difference isn’t just about performance or garbage collection anymore; it’s about writing code that doesn’t make you want to scream.
The Spring 7 and JDK 24 Reality Check
Here’s the thing that hit me while I was upgrading a side project. Spring Framework 7.0 isn’t playing nice with ancient Java versions. The baseline has moved up. They aren’t just suggesting you upgrade; they’re requiring it. This aligns perfectly with JDK 24 reaching its release candidate phase.
Remember when we had to write verbose getters, setters, and equals() methods for simple data carriers? I don’t miss that. Not even a little bit. With the new stack, the boilerplate is gone. The language feels lighter. It feels like it actually respects my time.
I ran into a weird issue with JHipster 8.9.0 (also in RC) where my old configuration classes blew up, but that was mostly my fault for ignoring the migration guide. Once I fixed it, the startup time was ridiculous. Fast. Blink-and-you-miss-it fast. That’s JDK Mission Control 9.1.0 showing off the improved flight recording and analysis capabilities, helping us tune things we couldn’t even see a few years ago.
Code That Actually Makes Sense
Let’s look at what this actually looks like in practice. If you’re still writing Java 8 style code, you’re writing about 50% more lines than you need to.
I drafted a quick example to handle some transaction events. In the old days, this would be a mess of abstract classes and anonymous inner types. With JDK 24 features (and the steady accumulation of improvements since 17 and 21), we can use sealed interfaces, records, and pattern matching to make the compiler do the heavy lifting.
Here is a snippet showing a sealed interface (the modern way to define a contract) and how we handle data processing with streams. Note the lack of boilerplate.
package com.modernjava.events;
import java.math.BigDecimal;
import java.time.Instant;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.stream.Stream;
// 1. INTERFACE: Sealed interface restricts which classes can implement it
// This gives us strict control over the hierarchy.
sealed interface TransactionEvent permits Payment, Refund, Chargeback {
String transactionId();
Instant timestamp();
// Private interface methods (Java 9+) reduce code duplication in default methods
private void logAccess() {
System.out.println("Accessing transaction at " + Instant.now());
}
default void audit() {
logAccess();
System.out.println("Auditing " + transactionId());
}
}
// 2. CLASS: Records (Java 16+) replace the POJO nightmare
// No getters, setters, toString, or equals needed. It's all implicit.
record Payment(String transactionId, BigDecimal amount, Instant timestamp)
implements TransactionEvent {}
record Refund(String transactionId, BigDecimal amount, Instant timestamp, String reason)
implements TransactionEvent {}
record Chargeback(String transactionId, BigDecimal penalty, Instant timestamp)
implements TransactionEvent {}
public class TransactionProcessor {
// 3. METHOD: Pattern Matching for switch (Java 21+)
// No more casting. The variable 'p' is already typed as Payment.
public String processEvent(TransactionEvent event) {
return switch (event) {
case Payment p when p.amount().compareTo(BigDecimal.valueOf(1000)) > 0 ->
"High value payment processed: " + p.transactionId();
case Payment p ->
"Standard payment processed: " + p.transactionId();
case Refund r ->
"Refund issued: " + r.amount() + " for reason: " + r.reason();
case Chargeback c ->
"CRITICAL: Chargeback received with penalty " + c.penalty();
};
}
// 4. STREAM: Modern stream usage
public void analyzeHistory(List history) {
history.stream()
.filter(e -> e instanceof Payment)
.map(e -> (Payment) e)
.filter(p -> p.amount().intValue() > 50)
// In JDK 24, we just call toList(). No more .collect(Collectors.toList())
.toList()
.forEach(System.out::println);
}
} Look at that switch statement. Seriously, look at it. It’s readable. It handles the logic right there. No casting, no if-else chains. If I add a new implementation to the sealed interface but forget to handle it in the switch, the compiler screams at me. That safety net alone saved my bacon twice last week.
Hibernate 7.0 is a Beast
The tweet mentioned Hibernate 7.0 milestones, and this is where things get interesting for data nerds. I’ve been fighting with N+1 query problems for a decade. The new Hibernate releases, paired with Spring Data 2025.0.0, seem to finally have smarter defaults. It’s not magic—you can still shoot yourself in the foot—but the gun is harder to reach.
I tried swapping out an old persistence layer. The migration wasn’t seamless (it never is, let’s be real), but the query generation is noticeably cleaner. They’ve dropped a lot of the legacy baggage that was keeping compatibility with older JPA specs. It feels leaner.
Why Are You Still Waiting?
I get it. Upgrading is scary. Things break. Managers ask why we’re spending time on “infrastructure” instead of features. But looking at JDK 24 and the surrounding tools, the gap is now a canyon. Staying on Java 8 isn’t “stable” anymore; it’s a liability.
With Spring Framework 7 pushing boundaries and tools like JHipster automating the modern stack setup, the friction is lower than it used to be. You don’t have to rewrite everything overnight. But you should probably start.
So, grab the JDK 24 RC. Break your local environment. Fix it. The future is actually pretty nice once you get past the compile errors.