Changing the baseline to Java 17?

[phax]

Dear phase4 community,

phase4 1.x used Java 1.8 as the baseline, phase4 2.x and 3.x are using Java 11 as the minimum required version.
As the world moves on, other libraries are consistenly increasing their Java base line requirements towards Java 17 and later. E.g. Spring Boot 3.x requires Java 17 as does WSS4J 4.x as well. Currently phase4 uses WSS4J 3.x but the question is, how long will this version be supported.

Therefore, I am asking the community about their needs and restrictions. This poll was started by the discussion #300 so if you have comments or thoughts, feel free to directly comment there.

Please note, that this poll only applies to phase4. The baseline for my other underlying libraries (like peppol-commons) is not affected by this poll.

[Aliabbos-Ashurov]

Given the current trends in Java development, I would suggest skipping Java 17 and directly moving to Java 21 as the new baseline for phase4.

Here’s why:

Long-Term Support (LTS): Java 21 is the latest LTS release, meaning it will receive updates and support for a longer period than Java 17.
Future-Proofing: Many frameworks and libraries will eventually require Java 21, so adopting it now avoids another upgrade cycle in just a few years.
Performance & Features: Java 21 introduces improvements like Virtual Threads (Project Loom) and structured concurrency, which could benefit phase4 in the long run.
Maintaining backward compatibility is always a concern, but given that many libraries are already pushing for Java 17+, it might be best to future-proof phase4 rather than taking incremental steps.

Would love to hear thoughts from the community!