Java 18: New Features That Accelerate Development

What Java 18 Brings to Developers

Oracle delivered Java 18 to developers on March 22, providing a set of enhancements aimed at improving software development practices for the widely used language.

Java 18 follows the LTS release Java 17 (September 2021) and, unlike its predecessor, is not an LTS version; it is a six‑month incremental update that includes library and tool updates as well as several technology previews.

Chad Arimura, Vice President of Developer Relations at Oracle, said the company is proud to keep the Java ecosystem moving forward, noting that Java has over ten million developers and remains one of the most successful technology platforms in history.

Java 18 Includes a New Simple Web Server

One of the new features in Java 18 is the Simple Web Server defined by JEP 408. Previously, developers who wanted to test code on a web server had to use separate technologies such as Apache or Nginx. The Simple Web Server is not intended to replace full‑featured servers for complex or production workloads; instead, it helps developers quickly test code.

Arimura described it as a learning tool that can be started with the JDK to respond to HTTP requests, aiming to make Java more approachable for new developers, educators, and students.

Improved Documentation with Code Snippets

JEP 413 adds the ability to embed syntax‑highlighted code snippets directly in Java API documentation. This feature also introduces an API that lets developers test those snippets within the documentation, benefiting both JDK developers and anyone who incorporates Java docs into their own code.

Default Charset Changed to UTF‑8

Java 18 sets UTF‑8 as the default character set. UTF‑8 is a Unicode standard that defines a universal character encoding across IT systems.

According to JEP 400, this change ensures that APIs relying on the default charset behave consistently across all implementations, operating systems, locales, and configurations.