Java News Roundup: TornadoVM 4.0, Google ADK for Java 1.0, Grails, Tomcat, Log4j, Gradle

This week's Java roundup for March 30th, 2026, delivers significant updates across the ecosystem, from high-performance computing to enterprise frameworks and security tools.

TornadoVM 4.0: Apple Silicon and CUDA Graph Support

The General Availability release of TornadoVM 4.0.0 marks a substantial leap forward for Java developers working with heterogeneous computing. The update introduces a new hardware backend supporting Apple Silicon and the Apple Metal API, expanding TornadoVM's reach beyond traditional GPU architectures.

Key enhancements include:

• PTX backend support for SIMD shuffle and reduction intrinsics
• New withCUDAGraph() method in the TornadoExecutionPlan class for capturing CUDA graph operations
• Dependency upgrades and bug fixes

The CUDA graph functionality is particularly noteworthy for performance-critical applications, as it allows developers to capture and replay sequences of GPU operations without re-compilation overhead.

Google ADK for Java 1.0: Building AI Agents

Google has released version 1.0.0 of their open-source Agent Development Kit (ADK) for Java, providing a framework for building sophisticated AI agents. This release focuses on improving the developer experience and expanding capabilities.

Notable features include:

• Use of InMemoryArtifactService class in AgentExecutorProducer to complement InMemorySessionService
• Ability to simultaneously use features, output_schema, and tools for models that don't natively support all three
• Documentation improvements and bug fixes

The framework addresses a growing need in the Java ecosystem for standardized approaches to building AI agents, particularly as enterprises explore agentic architectures.

Grails 7.1.0 Release Candidate

The first release candidate of Grails 7.1.0 ships with important architectural improvements:

• Configuration of Groovy invokedynamic moved from generated build.gradle to the Grails Gradle Plugin for centralized management
• Changes to the @Service annotation that now automatically inherit a datasource from the mapping block of domain classes
• Bug fixes and stability improvements

These changes reflect Grails' ongoing evolution toward better integration with modern Java build tools and improved developer ergonomics.

Apache Tomcat Security and Performance Updates

Multiple versions of Apache Tomcat have been released, addressing both security and performance concerns:

• Version 11.0.21: Resolves issues with non-blocking flushing code for NIO and TLS, ensuring responses are fully written before connection closure
• Version 10.1.54: Improves error handling for HTTP/2 and the EncryptInterceptor class
• Version 9.0.117: Includes similar security and stability enhancements

The focus on HTTP/2 error handling and TLS flushing demonstrates the project's commitment to modern web standards and security best practices.

Apache Log4j 2.25.4: Security and Stability

The Apache Log4j 2.25.4 release addresses critical security and configuration issues that emerged from the builder pattern migration in version 2.21.0:

• Restores alignment between documented and actual configuration attributes in Rfc5424Layout
• Resolves formatting and sanitization issues in XML and RFC5424 layouts
• Improves handling of invalid characters and non-standard values in XmlLayout, Log4j1XmlLayout, and MapMessage classes

Given Log4j's central role in Java applications, these fixes are essential for maintaining security and compliance.

Gradle 9.5.0 Release Candidate: Build Performance

The first release candidate of Gradle 9.5.0 introduces several developer experience improvements:

• Enhanced task failure diagnostics with provenance information and clearer logging for incompatible client JVMs
• New disallowChanges() method in the DomainObjectCollection interface, preventing elements from being added to or removed from collections
• Build authoring improvements that enhance reproducibility and debugging

These changes reflect Gradle's focus on making builds more reliable and easier to debug, particularly in complex multi-project environments.

Micronaut 4.10.11: Framework Stability

The Micronaut Foundation has released version 4.10.11, featuring:

• Bug fixes and patch updates to modules including Micronaut OpenAPI and Micronaut Logging
• Based on Micronaut Core 4.10.20
• Improved stability for production deployments

Jakarta EE 12 Progress

Ivar Grimstad provided an update on Jakarta EE 12, highlighting progress on security specifications:

• Discussions on merging security specifications into a unified Jakarta Security
• Plans to include Jakarta Authorization in the Web Profile for Jakarta EE 12
• Multiple specifications in progress for milestone 2 release, including:
  • Jakarta Connectors 3.0
  • Jakarta Faces 5.0
  • Jakarta Transactions 2.1
  • Jakarta JSON Processing 2.2

The security unification effort addresses long-standing architectural inconsistencies in the Jakarta EE platform.

JDK 27 Early Access

Build 16 of the JDK 27 early-access builds was released, featuring fixes from Build 15. Developers are encouraged to report bugs via the Java Bug Database as the platform continues its evolution toward the next long-term support release.

The breadth of updates this week demonstrates Java's continued vitality across multiple domains—from high-performance computing with TornadoVM to AI agent development with Google's ADK, and from enterprise frameworks to core infrastructure components. Each release addresses specific pain points while pushing the ecosystem forward, ensuring Java remains relevant for both traditional enterprise applications and emerging technologies.