Feature-driven releases

Following the 1996 launch of Java 1, subsequent releases had the nomenclature of 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4. With the release of 1.5, the Java platform was referred to as Java 5. Frequent updates were released for Java 5 until Java 6 was released followed by Java 7, Java 8, and Java 9. 

The following table provides a condensed view of the Java release history until Java 9:

    
Release Name           Version           Year Released           Code Name

      
Java 1           1.0           1996           Oak

      
Java 1.1           1.1           1997           (Abigail, Brutus, Chelsea)

      
Java 2           1.2           1998           Playground

      
Java 3           1.3           2000           Kestrel

      
Java 4           1.4           2002           Merlin

      
Java 5           1.5           2004           Tiger

      
Java 6           1.6           2006           Mustang

      
Java 7           1.7           2011           Dolphin

      
Java 8           1.8           2014           Spider

      
Java 9           9           2017           *Code names no longer used
  

The release of Java 9 was a significant change to the Java platform and how each of the versions was numbered. With the post-Java 9 releases, Oracle decided to abandon their feature-based model, opting for a time-released model instead.