From Reactive Streams to Virtual Threads

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 12:27:42 +0000

Virtual Threads deliver a fast, cheap (in terms of memory & switching speed) threading solution for the JVM. They promise the return of a direct-style, synchronous programming model. But is that enough to challenge the status quo regarding data streaming? Can we have the best of both worlds: the simplicity that Virtual Threads promise and the resilience and safety of Reactive Streams? Let’s find out!

First, a little bit of history. Virtual Threads were released with Java 21 in September 2023, after 6 years of development. Some final limitations of that implementation will be fully lifted with the release of Java 24 in March 2025.

Adam Warski on JAVAPRO International

From Reactive Streams to Virtual Threads