Java’s biggest language change in a decade is finally landing. It took 197,000 lines of code.

TL;DR

Project Valhalla’s value classes are heading to JDK 28, a 197,000-line change that rewrites how Java handles object identity.

Oracle software engineer Lois Foltan has confirmed that Java Enhancement Proposal 401, which introduces value classes and objects to the language, will be integrated into the OpenJDK mainline early next month targeting JDK 28. The change is part of Project Valhalla, a long-running effort to address one of Java’s oldest performance limitations. The pull request adds more than 197,000 lines of code across 1,816 changed files, according to The Register.

Foltan described it as an “extremely large change” in a post to the OpenJDK mailing list and asked other committers to avoid large commits during the integration window. The current Java Development Kit is version 26, with JDK 27 expected in September 2026 and JDK 28 in March 2027. JEP 401 will arrive as a preview feature, meaning...

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