ColdFusion 2016 - Highest version of JDK is 12? Where is it on Oracle?

[ACS LLC]

I presume from the recent update of ColdFusion 2016 (Update 12) that JDK 12 is the highest version I can go to. The problem is that when I search on Oracle it's saying 12 is no longer supported and to go to 13

Does anyboy have a link to 12? The Oracle download page goes from 13 down to 11, no 12 showing

https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html

Has anybody tried 13?

[kazu98296633]

https://www.adobe.com/support/coldfusion/downloads.html#additionalThirdPartyInstallers

[ACS LLC]

Thanks.

If JDK 12 is no longer supported or updated by Oracle I guess that the 12.0.2 version on Adobe's site using the link above is the last version and we'll not be able to get any security updates until it's made compatible with the current and supported version JDK 13

Has anybody tried JDK13 to see if things go horribly wrong?

[Charlie Arehart]

The confusion is understandable. I think I can offer an authoritative answer/explanation. First, let's talk about the current Java versions (at this writing) and CF's current support of them.

I'd assert you shouldn't use Java 13 currently with CF, as it's not yet supported yet by CF2016 or 2018. As for 13 and 12, these are what oracle regards as temporary releases (as were 9 and 10). Java 11 instead is termed a longterm release, as was 8. Both are still updated by Oracle, and CF2016 still supports either. So just use the latest of either 8 or 11. And cf2018 supports 10 (originally), 11 (as of update 2), or 12 (as of update 5), while CF2016 supports Java 8 (originally), 11 (as of update 8), and 12 (as of update 12).

Most folks on the latest versions of CF 2018 should for now use the latest update of Java 11, and folks on the latest version of CF2016 should for now use either the latest update of Java 8 or Java 11.

Adobe is offering support of the intermediate releases (9, 10, 12, etc.) along the way when they do so that those who WANT to use them for some reason can, but they have such short lives (months) that by the time they come out and Adobe gets them supported and releases a CF update for them, they will generally be ended by Oracle.

Again, the confusion is understandable, but this is a problem Oracle created, not Adobe. 

Finally, as for where to "get Java 12" if one really wanted it, as Kazu noted above, you can find downloads of the Java versions that Adobe DOES support at the bottom of the CF downloads page (not for downloading CF, but things RELATED to CF): https://www.adobe.com/support/coldfusion/downloads.html#additionalThirdPartyInstallers

[ACS LLC]

Thanks for the clarification Charlie. Now I wish I had waited for a response here until I upgraded to 12. Looks like I'll have to revert back to 11 which I just uninstalled 😞

[Charlie Arehart]

Well, I did answer within an hour. 🙂 At least it just takes minutes to install 11 again and change cf to use it, and restart CF. Glad I could help. 

[ACS LLC]

My impatience didn't paid off. As soon as I received the link to JDK 12 I jumped on it. whoops. Back to 11 I go 🙂

[Charlie Arehart]

Note also that there was no reason to remove 11 when you added 12. Indeed, I would argue that one should NOT Remove an older jvm until the newer one has proven itself. It's so easy to swap cf among them, until then. 

[ACS LLC]

I can't disagree with that, I was tempted to leave it, but my need to keep things neat and tidy also got the better of me

[Charlie Arehart]

I went ahead and created a blog post, expanding on my reply above:

"ColdFusion now supports Java 12, which is already EOL. Should you use it? Java 13? 11?"
https://coldfusion.adobe.com/2019/10/coldfusion-now-supports-java-12-already-eol-use-java-13-11/

[Mike John Peters]

Hi Charlie

What about Jakarta?

Mike Peters

[Charlie Arehart]

What about it? I don't see its connection here. Care to elaborate?