The Eclipse Foundation has released Jakarta EE 11, the latest version of its enterprise Java platform. This release includes one new specification, updates to 16 existing specifications, and a modernized Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK). Jakarta EE 11 was originally planned for release in July 2024, but practical delays pushed the rollout to December 2024 and April 2025.
By May 2024, all 16 updated specifications had passed their reviews and TCKs. The Eclipse Foundation focused on modernizing the TCK by migrating build tools from Ant to Maven and test suites from TestHarness to Arquillian. The refactoring ecosystem OpenRewrite was used to facilitate these changes.
The key components of Jakarta EE 11 include the Jakarta EE Platform, Jakarta EE Web Profile, and Jakarta EE Core Profile. The Web Profile was released in April 2025, while the Core Profile was released in December 2024.
Jakarta EE modernizes enterprise Java platform
Sixteen specifications have been updated for Jakarta EE 11, including name updates for Jakarta Validation, Jakarta Faces, and Jakarta Pages. A new specification, Jakarta Data, provides an API for easy access to database technologies. Other notable changes include support for Java Records, support for Virtual Threads when using JDK 21, new specification documents, and the removal of references to deprecated Java versions and legacy annotations.
David Blevins, Principal Architect for Java at Microsoft and Release Coordinator for Jakarta EE 11, said, “Our field of enterprise software development is at a critical juncture. Generative AI has created expectations for dramatically increased product development velocity. These expectations directly challenge the deliberate, standards-based, and, yes, slow pace of development to which we are accustomed in Jakarta EE.
Though the release of Jakarta EE 11 arrived later than I would have liked, it demonstrates that we are setting ourselves up to move faster by integrating new technologies and paying down technical debt.”
Steve Millidge, CEO at Payara, described this release as a significant leap, saying, “Jakarta EE 11 could be the first big leap. From the initial lift and shift in Jakarta EE 8 to the namespace change in Jakarta EE 9, and the simplifications in Jakarta EE 10, much effort has gone into making Jakarta EE a solid foundation for open-source developers. With this release, there is now the opportunity to take Jakarta EE beyond the Java EE era.”
Jakarta EE 11 aims to leverage the latest capabilities of Java 21, build new specifications, and further unify and simplify the platform, marking an exciting era for enterprise software development.
