Java 6
| Status | End of Life |
|---|---|
| Release Date | 2006-12-12 |
| EOL Date | 2018-10-16 |
| Latest Version | 6u211 |
| Codename | Mustang |
| Class File Version | 50.0 |
| Unicode Version | 4.0.0 |
| API Changes | Compare to 5 - 1.4 - 1.3 - 1.2 - 1.1 - 1.0 |
| Documentation | Release Notes, Language Spec, VM Spec, JavaDoc |
| SCM |
This is the first release after Sun Microsystems open sourced Java SE under the GPLv2 license.
The release primarily added new APIs, for example a full web services stack including several XML processing APIs. A step that was reverted 12 years later, when these APIs were removed again.
The contents of Java 6 is specified in the umbrella JSR 270.
New Features
Here are all new features in Java 6 by category. There is also of list of all features of all Java releases.
API
- XML Digital Signatures (javax.xml.crypto.dsig) (JSR 105)
- Streaming API for XML 1.0 (javax.xml.stream) (JSR 173)
- Web Services Metadata (javax.jws) (JSR 181)
- Java API for XML Processing 1.3 (javax.xml.*) (JSR 206)
- JAXB 2.0 (javax.xml.bind) (JSR 222)
- Scripting for the Java Platform (javax.script) (JSR 223)
- XML-Based Web Services 2.0 (javax.xml.ws) (JSR 224)
- Common Annotations (javax.annotations) (JSR 250)
- Smart Card I/O (javax.smartcardio) (JSR 268)
- Pluggable Annotation Processing (javax.lang.model) (JSR 269)
- Java Activation Framework (javax.annotation) (JDK-6254474)
Tools
- javac supports java.lang.SuppressWarnings annotation (JDK-4986256)
Should I Upgrade?
Java 6 is end-of-life since 2018-10-16. Unless you have a support contract for this version and a compelling reason to stay on the old version you should definitely upgrade to a newer version with active support.
Please consider upgrading to a current long term support LTS version Java 8, Java 11, Java 17 or Java 21 to rely on a maintained platform and get advantage of the latest features and improvements.
Downloads
| Vendor | Product | License | Platform Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azul Systems | Zulu Builds of OpenJDK 6 | GPLv2+CE | |
| Oracle | Java SE Development Kit 6 | Commercial |