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Oracle Shifts GraalVM Focus Away from Java, Highlights Native Image Updates in JDK 25
Oracle has released GraalVM for JDK 25, introducing new features for its native image technology, while confirming that future development of the platform will shift away from the Java release cycle to focus on non-Java languages, such as GraalPy and GraalJS.
The JDK 25 update includes enhanced support for the Foreign Function and Memory (FFM) API (JEP 454), adding a new syntax for configuring the API and an implementation of the ofShared() method in the Arena interface. It also introduces early optimization operations from the Vector API (JEP 338).
In a blog post, Oracle said that GraalVM for JDK 24 was the final release licensed and supported as part of its Java SE products. The experimental Graal just-in-time (JIT) compiler, which had been included as an option in Oracle JDK 23 and 24, is being discontinued. Customers using the Graal JIT are advised to migrate to the standard C2 JIT included in the Oracle JDK.
Native image technology previously offered through GraalVM will no longer be part of Java SE products. Instead, Oracle said improvements to startup time, footprint, and ahead-of-time compilation are being advanced under OpenJDK’s Project Loom, not Project Leyden. Guidance for customers points to new features in JDK 25, such as JEP 514 (Ahead-of-Time Command-Line Ergonomics) and JEP 515 (Ahead-of-Time Method Profiling), with further work underway on draft proposals for Ahead-of-Time Code Compilation.
GraalVM was initially developed at Oracle Labs to accelerate application performance by compiling Java programs ahead of time into native binaries. These binaries typically start faster, consume fewer resources, and provide improved security by reducing attack surfaces. The technology has also been widely adopted in microservices frameworks such as Quarkus, Micronaut, and Helidon, and is supported across major cloud platforms.
While Oracle is winding down GraalVM’s role in Java SE, the company emphasized that the technology remains available under the GraalVM Free Terms and Conditions and through the open-source GraalVM Community Edition. Commercial users requiring legacy updates can obtain them via Oracle Support.
The company stated that more details on its transition to non-Java Graal languages will be provided at a later date.
About the Author
John K. Waters is the editor in chief of a number of Converge360.com sites, with a focus on high-end development, AI and future tech. He’s been writing about cutting-edge technologies and culture of Silicon Valley for more than two decades, and he’s written more than a dozen books. He also co-scripted the documentary film Silicon Valley: A 100 Year Renaissance, which aired on PBS. He can be reached at [email protected].
Source: adtmag.com
