So I heard that Java might finally get built-in JSON handling without needing external libraries like Jackson or Gson. This makes sense since JSON is everywhere these days for APIs and data transfer. I read somewhere that there’s discussion happening in the OpenJDK community about adding this feature directly to the core Java platform. Has anyone seen more details about what this native JSON API would look like? Would be great to not have to add dependencies just for basic JSON parsing and generation. Wonder if it will be similar to what other languages already have built in.
I’ve been following the JEP discussions and yes, there’s real momentum for native JSON support in Java. However, the timeline for its release remains uncertain. The technical aspects seem manageable, but there’s considerable debate about the API design. OpenJDK is exercising caution to avoid creating a new JSON API, considering that libraries like Jackson and Gson are already well-established. It appears they are torn between offering a minimal implementation focusing solely on parsing and generation or opting for a comprehensive approach that could rival existing libraries. My concern is that this initiative may not materialize until Java 25 or later, causing many enterprise teams to rely on their current solutions for the foreseeable future.
I’ve worked with tons of JSON libraries across different projects, and honestly the biggest hurdle will be backwards compatibility and performance. Java’s team can’t afford to break existing ecosystems that rely heavily on Jackson or Gson - that’d be a disaster. From what I’ve seen, the native support will probably stick to basic parsing and serialization. Don’t expect advanced stuff like custom deserializers or complex binding annotations that enterprise apps need. Performance is huge here too since Jackson’s had years to get optimized. I’m betting we’ll get something like Python’s json module - works fine but not nearly as feature-packed as third-party options. The real question is whether devs will actually migrate existing codebases or if this just helps new projects getting started.
i’m pretty skeptical about this. java’s track record w/ “native” features isn’t great - they usually end up bloated and miss the key stuff that makes external libs good. jackson’s annotations are amazing for complex serialization, i doubt java will match that anytime soon. also, updating builds and ripping out gson dependencies sounds like a total nightmare for existing projects.