A Busy Month for Enterprise Java and Modern Frameworks
The latest wave of Java framework updates is a coordinated series of general availability releases and milestones across application servers, cloud-native frameworks and AI integrations that together expand what Java developers can build and how efficiently they can build it. In May, the WildFly 40 release, Micronaut 5.0 GA, Open Liberty’s May edition, Apache Fory 1.0 and the Maven Embedded GlassFish Plugin 8.0 all reached key milestones, while Spring AI 2.0 advanced through another milestone build. This cluster of releases matters because it spans classic Jakarta EE stacks, lightweight microservice frameworks and emerging AI-powered tooling. Teams can now target Jakarta EE 11 across multiple servers, modernize dependency injection and resilience in Micronaut, and experiment with Spring AI integration for tool-backed chat clients, all while gaining new serialization and build tooling options in the Java ecosystem.
WildFly 40 and Open Liberty Push Jakarta EE 11 Forward
WildFly 40 GA is a major step for enterprise Java applications built on Jakarta EE. The release adds support for Jakarta EE 11 APIs such as Jakarta Pages 4.0, Jakarta WebSocket 2.2 and Jakarta Authorization 3.0, alongside bug fixes, documentation updates and dependency refreshes. It also improves OpenID Connect support with RP-initiated logout and both front-channel and back-channel logout protocols, giving security teams more options for single sign-out. Open Liberty’s May 2026 edition (26.0.0.5) also delivers full support for the Jakarta EE 11 Platform, Web Profile and Core Profile, while adding the ability to run Spring Boot 4.0 applications on Open Liberty. According to InfoQ, this release further resolves CVE-2026-3621, fixing a vulnerability that allowed spoofing under limited conditions when applications lacked configured authentication and authorization.
Micronaut 5.0 GA Modernizes Lightweight Java Development
Micronaut 5.0 GA is both a framework update and a platform refresh that targets modern JDK and language baselines. The Micronaut Foundation ships this release with support for JDK 25, Groovy 5 and Kotlin 2.3, aligning the framework with upcoming language features and JVM changes. Core changes include a refactored IoC container and compile-time infrastructure for bean resolution, qualifier handling and annotation processing, designed to reduce runtime work and make behavior more predictable. Micronaut 5.0 adds nullability support through JSpecify annotations and introduces programmatic retry and circuit breaker APIs for resilience and context propagation. Sergio Del Amo Caballero notes that “Micronaut 5 is both a major framework release and a broad platform refresh across more than 70 Micronaut modules,” signaling long-term investment in the framework’s ecosystem and giving teams a clear path for upgrading from Micronaut 4.
Apache Fory 1.0 and GlassFish Plugin 8.0 Expand Java Tooling
Beyond headline application servers and frameworks, May also brought new tooling that targets serialization and Jakarta EE development workflows. Apache Fory 1.0, a polyglot serialization framework that includes Apache Fory Java, introduces a unified cross-language (Xlang) serialization format as the default. This mode supports compatible-mode reads, simplified field ordering and better compatibility for lists and arrays. It also adds a new fory-annotation-processor Maven module to generate static serializers for Java classes and records annotated with @ForyStruct. On the build side, the Maven Embedded GlassFish Plugin 8.0.0 delivers dependency updates and the ability to start GlassFish in a separate JVM by default, with required --add-opens and add-exports module values preconfigured. Developers can now select Embedded GlassFish versions through configuration and dependency management, smoothing continuous integration setups for Jakarta EE applications.
Spring AI Milestone and the Momentum of Java Innovation
Spring AI 2.0.0’s seventh milestone highlights how AI integrations are becoming part of mainstream Java stacks. The release includes bug fixes, documentation improvements, dependency upgrades and new features such as a ToolSpec inner interface added to the ChatClient interface for registering tool methods in one place. It also uses ToolCallAdvisor as the default mechanism for auto-registration of ChatClient tools or callbacks, simplifying how developers plug custom tools into AI-driven chat flows. These changes move Spring AI integration closer to production readiness across Spring-based systems. Taken together, the WildFly 40 release, Micronaut 5.0 GA, Apache Fory 1.0, the Maven Embedded GlassFish Plugin 8.0 and Open Liberty’s May edition show strong momentum in the Java ecosystem. From Jakarta EE 11 servers to lightweight microservices, serialization libraries and AI-friendly clients, Java continues to expand instead of standing still.