Inside Java Newscast #103 // nipafx

A year-in-review of Java's 2025 highlights covering the six major OpenJDK projects. Project Panama and Loom have largely completed their goals, with only single features still in progress. Project Babylon is working toward extending Java to GPUs and ML via code reflection. Project Amber finalized compact source files, module imports, flexible constructor bodies, and progressed primitive patterns, signaling a transition to a new phase. Project Leyden shipped its first features—an AOT class cache in JDK 24 and method profiles in JDK 25—with early-access builds showing 60-75% startup time reductions. Java 25 was a strong LTS release. Notable deprecations include the security manager removal, 32-bit port removal, and progress on integrity-by-default. Project Valhalla still hasn't shipped value types but has a clear roadmap with JEPs 401 and 402.