JDK 27 has entered Ramp-Down Phase 1, locking in its features: G1 GC becomes the universal default, compact object headers are now default, JFR gains data redaction, post-quantum TLS key exchange schemes are added, and several APIs (PEM, LazyConstant, structured concurrency) enter further previews. The biggest news is Project Valhalla's JEP 401 (value types) and JEP 539 (strict field initialization) being merged into JDK main via a massive 2,900-commit pull request, targeting JDK 28 early-access builds. Additional topics include a Java hackathon (Modern Java in the Wild), best practices for using AOT caching alongside Java agents in JDK 27, and a research article on exploiting GPU tensor cores from Java using Project Babylon's HAT toolkit. The show also announces a format change to monthly, broader-topic episodes.
