Unfortunately, due to the uncertainty, most developers estimate many days, weeks or even months for the upgrade. If you use Spring Boot, for example, then upgrading Spring Boot might already solve most upgrade issues. It depends on various elements such as the number of dependencies and how current they are. In fact, most applications running on Java 9 or higher haven’t configured Java modules in their codebase.Įstimating the amount of work required for any upgrade can be a challenge. However, Java 9 didn’t require you to explicitly use the module system. Many developers see the Java 9 module system, AKA Jigsaw, as a big challenge.

Luckily, some companies use Docker which can enable teams to upgrade those items by themselves. This is due to the required changes in the codebase and installing the latest version of Java on all the servers that build and run the application. It is perceived that upgrading to a newer version of Java may require a significant amount of work. Upgrading Is Sometimes Seen as a Challenge Doing so may also help organizations to retain existing employees and potentially attract new ones as developers are generally more eager to work on newer technologies. Keeping Java up-to-date helps to maintain a healthy application. Attend in-person QCon London (April 4-6, 2022) or online QCon Plus (May 10-20, 2022).Įvery new Java release, especially the major ones, contains improvements such that security vulnerabilities are resolved, performance is improved and new features are added. Uncover emerging trends and practices from domain experts. Upgrading your application’s dependencies already resolves most, if not all, of these issues. From my experience, the upgrade from Java 11 to Java 17 is easier compared to the upgrade from Java 8 to Java 11.

While upgrading Java can be challenging, it’s often a matter of hours or days.

If your application uses one of those features, then you need to resolve it when upgrading to a new version of Java.

Various features have been removed from the JDK such as fonts, certificates, tools and API methods.

That way, everyone is more eager to continue with the upgrade.

Your teammates and management can see it as well.

Upgrade step-by-step so you can monitor the progress.

Simply get started, spend some time on the upgrade, and determine where the issues are.

This article and other resources can help solve common Java upgrading challenges.

However, upgrading is often easier than originally thought.

Estimating the amount of time and effort to upgrade to Java 16 or 17 may be difficult.

Java 60?