docs: Blog post about JDK support in the next Scala LTS

_posts/2025-02-01-next-scala-lts.md

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+---
+category: announcement
+permalink: /news/next-scala-lts.html
+title: "Next Scala 3 LTS series will increase minimum required JDK version"
+by: Tomasz Godzik
+---
+
+**TL;DR**
+
+The Scala 3 Next minors in 2025 Q4 and the next LTS will drop JDK 8 support. We
+are seeking feedback on whether the new minimum JDK should be 11 or 17.
+
+## Immediate motivation
+
+The memory-access methods in `sun.misc.Unsafe` are scheduled for removal in a
+future JDK, as stated in the recent [JEP 471](https://openjdk.org/jeps/471).
+Currently, Scala 3 uses `sun.misc.Unsafe` in its implementation of `lazy val`.
+In order to support JDK 25+, we will need to drop usage of `Unsafe`. We are
+investigating the required changes under
+[this issue](https://github.com/scala/scala3/issues/9013).
+
+It then started to dawn on the compiler team that we might consider dropping
+support for JDK 8 altogether in a future release of Scala 3.
+
+## Long term motivation
+
+Switching to a newer version of the JDK would allow both the compiler and the
+Scala ecosystem to start using new features and standard library improvements
+brought in by JDK 9+. This might include a number of JEPs (JDK Enhancement
+Proposals), which the compiler team will investigate during the coming year. To
+check the current status, take a look at the issues marked with the
+[JEP label](https://github.com/scala/scala3/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3Acompat%3Ajava%3Ajep).
+
+Some of the features that might be interesting to the Scala community are:
+
+- [JEP 181](https://github.com/scala/scala3/issues/22292) will allow classes
+  that are logically connected, to access each other's private members. This
+  could be useful for representing nested classes and companion objects.
+  (Currently, the Scala compiler has to insert public bridge methods to broaden
+  the accessibility of those members.)
+- [JEP 409](https://github.com/scala/scala3/issues/22298) introduces sealed
+  classes. It would allow the compiler to better represent Scala's sealed trait
+  hierarchies.
+- [JEP 441](https://github.com/scala/scala3/issues/22450) introduces new
+  bytecode shapes for pattern matching in Java. With them, we may be able to
+  optimize the code resulting from Scala pattern matches.
+- [JEP 471](https://github.com/scala/scala3/issues/9013) adds a new API for
+  memory access. We will use it to replace the usage of `sun.misc.Unsafe` in
+  Scala 3.
+
+Dropping JDK 8 will reduce the maintenance burden on tooling and library
+authors. They currently have to take into account a large number of different
+versions, both for correctness and performance. Thus, the benefits of this
+change will be felt ecosystem-wide.
+
+JDK 8 was first published in 2014, over 10 years ago. JDKs have advanced greatly
+since then. In order to stay competitive, using those advancements is a must. A
+lot of the existing distributions, including
+[Oracle's own](https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/java-se-support-roadmap.html),
+have already stopped or will soon stop updating JDK 8 with security and other
+fixes. It is of course possible not to update your libraries and compiler
+version, to avoid having to switch to a newer JDK. However, that is highly
+discouraged, as it will make you vulnerable to potential security risks.
+
+Some larger projects in the Java and Scala ecosystems have already dropped JDK 8
+support in favor of JDK 11 or even 17.
+
+Java examples include:
+
+- [Spring 6](https://spring.io/blog/2022/11/16/spring-framework-6-0-goes-ga)
+  requires JDK 17
+- [Hibernate](https://hibernate.org/orm/releases/6.6/) requires JDK 11 and the
+  next version will require JDK 17
+- [Jetty](https://jetty.org/docs/jetty/12/index.html) requires JDK 17
+- [Logback](https://logback.qos.ch/dependencies.html) requires JDK 11
+- [JavaFX](https://gluonhq.com/products/javafx/) requires JDK 21
+- [Vaadin](https://github.com/vaadin/platform/releases/tag/24.6.0) requires JDK
+  17
+- [Quarkus](https://quarkus.io/blog/quarkus-3-7-released/) requires JDK 17
+- [TensorFlow](https://github.com/tensorflow/java) requires JDK 11
+
+Scala examples include:
+
+- [Spark 4](https://github.com/apache/spark/pull/43005#issuecomment-1731344040)
+  will require JDK 17
+- [Play Framework](https://github.com/playframework/playframework/issues/11078)
+  requires JDK 11 and
+  [will require JDK 17](https://github.com/playframework/playframework/issues/12179)
+  in the next major release
+- [Akka](https://github.com/akka/akka/pull/32127) requires JDK 11
+- [Apache Kafka](https://kafka.apache.org/documentation/#java) requires JDK 11
+- [ZIO](https://github.com/zio/zio/pull/8434) requires JDK 11
+- [Li Haoyi's ecosystem](https://github.com/com-lihaoyi) requires JDK 11 across
+  the board
+
+This shows that the rest of the industry is already moving away from JDK 8.
+
+## Plan for making the switch
+
+The current plan is to drop support of JDK 8 in one of the future minor releases
+of Scala 3 and in the next LTS. The new minimum JDK will be either 11 or 17,
+depending on the community feedback and our investigations. The current estimate
+for the next LTS is Q4 2025.
+
+One major challenge will be to preserve backward compatibility. As we change the
+encoding of `lazy val`s, we must still be able to use libraries compiled with
+earlier Scala 3 versions.
+
+## How does it affect me?
+
+The current line of LTS under 3.3.x will be supported for at least another year
+after the release of the next LTS version. That should give you plenty of time
+to migrate. After that, no more security fixes will be available for Scala 3
+versions supporting JDK 8.
+
+If you are using Scala 3 on JDK 8, do let us know! If it is not possible for you
+to switch, be sure to send us your feedback so that we can figure out a way to
+help you migrate.
+
+## Discussions and further reading
+
+You can track the current work related to lazy values under
+[this issue](https://github.com/scala/scala3/issues/9013).
+
+Discussion on the topic of dropping JDK 8 support is available on the
+[Scala contributors forum](https://contributors.scala-lang.org/t/next-scala-3-lts-version-will-increase-minimum-required-jdk-version)