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The Java Card Development Kit 25.1 is Now Available
Oracle’s Java Card team is pleased to announce version 25.1 of the Java Card Development Kit Simulator and Tools. This release delivers important fixes and enhancements across the simulator, Eclipse plug-in, and command–line tools to streamline setup, development, and verification workflows.
Please refer to the JCDK 25.1 Release Notes for more information.
What’s New?
Windows PC/SC driver
PC/SC (Personal Computer/Smart Card) is the de facto standard interface on desktop systems for communicating with smart cards and readers. On Windows, applications use the native PC/SC API to discover readers, connect to cards, and exchange APDUs.
The Java Card Development Kit Windows PC/SC driver presents a standard PC/SC reader interface, integrated with the JCDK Simulator. This allows your existing development ecosystem to interact with the JCDK Simulator as if it were a physical smart card reader. If your applications, middleware, or testing tools already use the PC/SC interface, they can communicate with the JCDK Simulator just like they would to a physical smart card, without requiring any code changes.
Additionally, the driver communicates with the simulator over sockets, allowing for flexible deployment options. The simulator does not require any special configuration for PC/SC clients. Both existing client applications and PC/SC clients work without modification.
Eclipse Plug-in improvements
We have significantly simplified the setup process for the Eclipse plug-in. Configuration now requires only specifying the paths to the Java Card Development Kit Simulator and Tools, as described in the user guide.
We also consolidated customization: all options for a simulator entry are managed in a single window, making configuration faster and more intuitive.
Together, these improvements make the plug-in an even more convenient way to build, test, and debug Java Card applications on the JCDK 25.1.
Extended Cryptography Support
This release adds two major Java Card API cryptography enhancements:
- SHA3 Message Digest Support: The MessageDigest class now supports SHA3‑224, SHA3‑256, SHA3‑384, and SHA3‑512 algorithms (per NIST FIPS PUB 202). This enables testing and validation of applets implementing protocols requiring SHA3 as a robust hashing function.
- Expanded HMAC Signature Options: HMAC‑SHA‑384 and HMAC‑SHA‑512 signatures are now supported in addition to HMAC‑SHA‑1 and HMAC‑SHA‑256. HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Code) is a keyed hash used for message authentication to verify integrity and authenticity.
- These algorithms can also be used indirectly for key derivation involving an HMAC operation, such as HKDF and the HKDF-Expand-Label operation used in TLS 1.3.