Choosing JDK Versions: A Comprehensive Comparison of JDK 8/11/17/21/24 and Community Consensus

1. JDK 8

• Considered the foundation of modern Java; extremely stable and widely adopted.
• Lambda/Streams greatly improved productivity; mature ecosystem; low upgrade cost.
• Best for stability-first projects with high migration cost.

2. JDK 11 (LTS)

• Start of modern Java; inherits features from 9/10: modules, HttpClient, ZGC, etc.
• Leaner: removed legacy modules; JDK/JRE merged; G1 default.
• Recommended for new projects; smoother upgrade path from 8.

3. JDK 17 / 21 (LTS)

• Ongoing evolution: sealed classes, records, virtual threads, pattern matching, etc.
• Future-facing; ecosystem support maturing; mainline LTS choices.

4. JDK 24 (latest stable, non-LTS)

• Latest syntax and API updates; great for experimenting and testing.
• Prefer LTS for production; evaluate feature ROI.

5. Consensus & Recommendations

• Most teams use 8/11/17/21 (LTS first) for stability.
• New projects: latest LTS; legacy: stay on 8 or plan phased upgrades.

If you share your project’s framework/dependencies/runtime details, I can propose a tailored migration matrix and step-by-step checklist.