Guest: Simon Ritter (LinkedIn)
Company: Azul 
Show: Java Reloaded
Topic: Cloud Native

The evolution of Java never stops—and one of its most anticipated milestones is getting closer. In this clip from his interview with Swapnil Bhartiya, Simon Ritter, Deputy CTO at Azul, shares his excitement about Project Valhalla, an OpenJDK initiative that promises to redefine how Java handles data and performance.

At the heart of Project Valhalla are value types, a new construct that bridges the gap between object-oriented flexibility and low-level performance. Simon explains that in Java today, everything is treated as an object except for primitive types like numbers, booleans, and characters. Objects are powerful but can introduce performance overhead, especially in compute-heavy or memory-sensitive applications. Valhalla aims to change that.

“Value types let you code like objects but perform like primitives,” Simon says. This approach enables developers to maintain Java’s familiar semantics while dramatically improving execution speed and efficiency. It’s a significant shift under the hood, affecting how data is represented and stored, but one that’s designed to be seamless for developers.

Simon also highlights the connection between Valhalla and the Vector API, another performance-focused addition to OpenJDK that’s already available. The Vector API allows developers to write portable, high-performance code that can take advantage of modern CPU capabilities, including SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) operations. Together, these initiatives signal Java’s long-term commitment to staying relevant for AI, data analytics, and other high-performance workloads.

Valhalla has been in development for several years, and according to Simon, it’s now nearing a stage where parts of it will start appearing in the JDK. The excitement in the Java community is growing, as developers recognize how this change could improve everything from low-latency trading systems to large-scale enterprise applications.

More than a performance boost, Project Valhalla represents the next phase of Java’s evolution—one where developers gain the benefits of modern hardware efficiency without giving up the productivity and safety that have made Java a mainstay for three decades.

As Java continues to adapt to the demands of the cloud-native, data-intensive, and AI-driven world, Project Valhalla could prove to be one of the most transformative updates in its history.