You'll find in this article the latest stable version of Spring framework as well as Spring versions in its history. It also cover key features, changes, updates in each major release of this popular Java enterprise framework.

You know, the Spring Framework is a popular, free and open-source application framework for the Java platform. It was created by Rod Johnson in 2002 to provide some alternatives to the complexity of the Java Enterprise (Java EE) platform. Spring is now a vast ecosystem with many modules that support a wide range of application scenarios. Developers can use Spring framework to quickly develop and deploy Java applications for the enterprise.

The Spring framework is actively maintained by VMWare, Inc.

 

1. What is the current version of Spring framework?

As of October 2024, the latest and stable release of Spring framework is 6.1.14 released on October, 17^th 2024 (Release Notes). This version requires Java Development Kit 17 as the minimum.

 

2. Spring framework version history

The Spring framework has been around for more than two decades, evolving in parallel with versions of Java. The following table shows the history of all Spring framework versions till date (note that only major verions are listed):

 

Version	Date	Minimum Java Version
Spring 0.9	June 2003	JDK 1.3
Spring 1.0	March 2004	JDK 1.3
Spring 2.0	October 2006	JDK 1.4
Spring 2.5	November 2007
Spring 3.0	December 2009	JDK 5
Spring 3.1	December 2011
Spring 3.2	November 2013
Spring 4.0	December 2013	JDK 6
Spring 4.2	July 2015
Spring 4.3	June 2016
Spring 5.0	September 2017	JDK 8
Spring 5.3	October 2020
Spring 6.0	November 2022	JDK 17
Spring 6.1.1	November 2023
Spring 6.1.14	October 2024

 

Note that the versions 2.x, 3.x and 4.x reached its official EOL (end-of-line), which means no further maintenance and security patches planned.

Spring framework 5.3.x is the final branch of the 5^th generation and still active.

Spring framework 6.1.x is the main production line as of April 2024.

That means by 2024, you can use the branches 5.3.x or 6.1.x to develop Spring-based applications.

 

3. Key Features in Major Releases of Spring Framework

Find below the important changes in each major version of the Spring framework. It helps you understand the evolution of this framework over time.

 

Spring Framework 1.x (2004)

Release: March 2004
Key Features:

• Core IoC (Inversion of Control) Container introduced
• AOP (Aspect-Oriented Programming) support
• MVC web framework
• Data access abstraction (support for JDBC, ORM frameworks like Hibernate)

Spring Framework 2.x (2006)

Release: October 2006
Key Features:

• Simplified configuration with XML-based configuration options
• Introduction of Spring AOP Alliance-compliant interfaces
• New features for AspectJ integration
• Spring Security module (originally Acegi)
• Improved integration with enterprise services like messaging, remoting

See what's new in Spring 2.0.

Spring Framework 3.x (2009)

Release: December 2009
Key Features:

• Support for Java 5+ features (e.g., annotations) and reduced reliance on XML configurations
• Support for RESTful web services
• Spring Expression Language (SpEL)
• Integrated validation framework (Bean Validation API - JSR 303)
• Spring EL for enhanced data binding

You can check the details of new features and enhancements in Spring 3.0 here.

Spring Framework 4.x (2013)

Release: December 2013
Key Features:

• Full support for Java 8, e.g., lambda expressions and method references
• WebSocket support for real-time messaging
• REST improvements and better handling of CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing)
• Groovy dynamic language support
• Java-based configuration support (eliminating much of the XML need)
• Support Java EE 7 and 6 specifications, e.g., Servlet 3.0 and JPA 2.0

Check this reference for details of new features and enhancements in Spring 4.0.

Spring Framework 5.x (2017)

Release: September 2017
Key Features:

• Baseline upgrade to Java 8+, supporting Java 9 and later
• Reactive programming support (Reactor and WebFlux) for asynchronous, non-blocking programming
• Functional and Kotlin DSL (Domain Specific Language) for bean registration
• Comprehensive HTTP/2 and WebSocket support
• Core container performance and startup improvements

Refer this article for what's new in Spring framework 5.x.

Spring Framework 6.x (2022 till now)

Release: November 2022
Key Features:

• Native support with GraalVM for creating native images
• Baseline upgrade to Java 17+
• Enhanced observability and support for Micrometer Metrics
• Improved Kotlin Coroutines support
• Removal of legacy XML Schema-based configurations in favor of Java/Kotlin-based configurations
• Improved AOT (Ahead-of-Time) compilation for better startup performance

Chec this Wiki page for what's new in Spring framework 6.x.

These Spring framework versions reflect significant evolutionary steps in the Spring ecosystem, introducing modern practices and performance improvements while maintaining backward compatibility.

 

Watch the video below to see Spring framework version history in more visual manner:

 

References:

• Spring Framework homepage 
• Spring Framework Documentation
• Spring Framework API Docs

 

Learn Spring framework on CodeJava:

• Spring framework tutorials

• Spring Boot tutorials

• Spring Security tutorials