The best of 2021: The 10 most popular Java Magazine articles

From JDK to lambdas, from internals to green threads, here’s what caught the attention of Java developers.

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Java developers like knowing how to do things better. They also like knowing how things work—the why of the Java language and JVM. This is clear when you peruse the most popular articles published in 2021. Thanks to state-of-the-art metrics, it became obvious that people really want to read about cutting-edge Java features, such as the JEPs in JDK 16 and JDK 17, as well as broad initiatives such as Project Loom.

Congratulations to Ben Evans, who scored three out of the top 10 slots. (He was the most popular author in 2020 as well.)

And now, without further ado, the Top 10 Java Magazine articles published in 2021.

Going inside Java’s Project Loom and virtual threads

By Ben Evans

See how virtual threads bring back the old days of Java’s green threads—that is, Java threads not tied to operating-system threads.

It’s time to move your applications to Java 17. Here’s why—and how.

By Johan Janssen

Here’s what you need to know about code migration from the previous Long-Term-Support versions of the platform: Java 11 and Java 8.

What are they building—and why? Questions for the top Java architects

By Alan Zeichick

Read how Java projects such as Loom, Panama, and Valhalla are laying the foundation for the future of the platform.

Java 16: The vector API, records, elastic metaspace, and much more

By Alan Zeichick

The Java Champions say these are a few of their favorite things.

Ripe for the picking: 11 Java features to help modernize your code

By Ian Darwin

Use these Java language improvements to make your code easier to write, read, and maintain.

Working and unit testing with temporary files in Java

By Andrew Binstock

Temporary files are frequently used in testing and in production. Here is how to use them.

Functional programming in Java: Lists, lambdas, and method references

By Venkat Subramaniam

Learn how to use lambda expressions to greatly reduce code clutter.

Java still rocks the finance industry. Here’s why Java 16 makes it even better.

By Alexandra Weber Morales

Java is critical to how stock markets run, as the language’s popularity created a virtuous cycle for financial companies.

A peek into Java 17: Encapsulating the Java runtime internals

By Ben Evans

The need to encapsulate the runtime is fundamentally caused by Java’s nature as an open programming environment.

Behind the scenes: How do lambda expressions really work in Java?

By Ben Evans

Look into the bytecode to see how the platform handles lambdas.

Special recognition

When the Java Magazine team examined the metrics, a few articles stood out because they were among the most-read of 2021—but they were published earlier. They are well worth reading (or rereading).

Published in 2019:

Understanding the JDK’s new superfast garbage collectors

By Raoul-Gabriel Urma and Richard Warburton

ZGC, Shenandoah, and improvements to G1 get developers closer than ever to pauseless Java.

Published in 2020:

The 25 greatest Java apps ever written

By Alexandra Weber Morales

The scope of these applications runs the gamut: space exploration, video games, machine learning, genomics, automotive, and cybersecurity.

The most popular quiz-related article read in 2021 wasn’t a quiz, and it was actually published in 2020:

Quiz yourself: Say “hello” to the 1Z0-819 Java SE 11 certification exam

By Simon Roberts and Mikalai Zaikin

You now need only pass a single exam to become a certified Java SE 11 Developer.

Dig deeper

• The best of 2020: The 10 most popular Java Magazine articles
• Restock your tech library with these new Java books
• 10 good reads from the Java Magazine archives
• The best of the JDK face-off