As of writing this bit, the most recent Java version is Java 21, and the latest Long Term Support (LTS) version is Java 17. All my personal applications run Java 21, and all professional applications I work on run Java 17.

Here’s what I think of other Java versions:

Java 18, 19 or 20

Are no longer supported, upgrade to 21 ASAP.

Java 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16

These are no longer supported. Upgrade to 17 or 21 ASAP

Java 11

This version was released in 2018. While still under support, you’re missing out on great features, and most major frameworks are compatible with Java 17 anyway. It’s a fairly painless migration, so get to it. Hell, even Android is compatible with 17 these days.

Java 8

This version was released in 2014, so almost a decade old at this point, and older than the Rust language. There are still some people who refer to this as a “cool new technology”, and I find it very hard not to laugh. While some JVM implementations still offer support for this version, you’re really lagging behind, and you’re going to get in trouble as more and more frameworks move on to newer versions and no longer offer security fixes for Java 8-based projects.

The migration to 11 can be a bit of a hassle due to some of the changes introduced in versions 9, 10 and 11 with regards to type inference and generics, but after that it should be smooth sailing.

Java 7 and below

Gif of Homer Simpsons retreating back into a bush