Foojay Podcast #68: Welcome to OpenJDK (Java) 24

Java 24 ships with 24 JEPs, and that number is no coincidence. The release packs compact object headers, generational Shenandoah, quantum-resistant cryptography, and the long-awaited fix for virtual thread pinning. In Foojay Podcast #68 we sit down with Simon Ritter (Deputy CTO at Azul) and Hanno Embregts (Java Developer) to walk through what landed and what it means for our code.

What we talked about

Why Java 24 includes 24 JEPs and how the release came together
Hotspot and garbage collection changes, including Generational Shenandoah and Compact Object Headers
The fix for virtual thread pinning
Security features and quantum-resistant cryptography
Improvements to development tools
Preview features and API finalizations
Deprecations and the removal of 32-bit support
Production readiness of the new features
A look ahead to the next LTS release

What stood out

Compact object headers cut memory overhead in a way that helps real workloads, not just benchmarks. The virtual thread pinning fix removes one of the last big footguns from Project Loom adoption. Together they make Java 24 a release worth testing against your own code, even if you stay on an LTS for production.

See the Foojay Podcast #68 for all info, shownotes, links, etc.