Dear Spring community,

It's my pleasure to announce that Spring Framework 4.2 is now generally available from repo.spring.io as well as Maven Central! This is a feature release in the 4.x line, compatible with Java 6 and 7 as well as Java 8, with a focus on core refinements and modern web capabilities:

• Annotation detection on Java 8 default methods (e.g. @Bean)
• Annotation-based application events (@EventListener)
• First-class support for annotation attribute aliases (@AliasFor)
• Full nested path processing for direct field binding
• Data binding and conversion for JSR-354 Money & Currency
• Integration with Hibernate ORM 5.0 (natively and via JPA)
• Standards-based bean scripting via JSR-223 (JRuby, JavaScript)
• JSR-223 based web views (with a focus on JavaScript on Nashorn)
• Rich support for CORS and declarative HTTP caching
• First-class support for HTTP Streaming and Server-Sent Events
• CompletableFuture for handler methods and @Async methods
• Support for Jackson's @JsonView on STOMP endpoint methods
• A STOMP client for use over TCP and WebSocket channels
• MockMvc HtmlUnit integration for easy local testing of web pages
• Integration tests can alternatively be executed with JUnit rules
• And, as always, many further refinements in the details.

Check out New Features and Enhancements in Spring Framework 4.2 in the reference documentation for a more detailed overview. Stay tuned for the 4.2-based Spring Boot 1.3, with a release candidate expected in time for SpringOne in September...

Please note that Spring Framework 4.2 is a recommended upgrade for all 4.x users, immediately superseding the 4.1 line. The final 4.1.x maintenance release is expected by December; for any remaining issues, you'll have to upgrade to 4.2.x at that point.

Our next feature release will be Spring Framework 4.3, with a release candidate expected in March 2016. This will be the final generation within the general Spring 4 system requirements (Java 6+, Servlet 2.5+), getting prepared for an extended 4.3.x support life until 2019.

Cheers, Juergen

#SpringOne 2GX 2015 is around the corner! Book your place at SpringOne2GX in Washington, DC soon. It's simply the best opportunity to find out first hand all that's going on and to provide direct feedback. Join Stéphane and myself for a session on modern Java component design with Spring 4.2.