What are the enhancements in latest Stable Version of Tomcat Embed Core for Spring Boot?

Before we check the new enhancements. Let’s quickly review some facts about Tomcat.

The history of Tomcat, also known as Apache Tomcat, is closely tied to the development of the Java platform and the Apache Software Foundation. Here’s an overview of its interesting history:

1. Origins: In the mid-1990s, a developer named James Duncan Davidson, who worked at Sun Microsystems, created a small web server as a demonstration for the Java platform. He named it “Tomcat” after his tomcat cat, and it became an integral part of the Java development community.
2. Donation to Apache: In 1999, Sun Microsystems decided to donate Tomcat to the Apache Software Foundation. This move was driven by the desire to establish Tomcat as an open-source project and to benefit from the collaborative efforts of the Apache community.
3. Version 3.0: The first release of Tomcat under the Apache umbrella was version 3.0, which came out in 1999. This version brought improved stability and performance enhancements.
4. Version 4.0: In 2002, Tomcat 4.0 was released, introducing significant architectural changes. It was designed to comply with the Java Servlet 2.3 and JavaServer Pages (JSP) 1.2 specifications. Tomcat 4.0 was considered a major milestone in Tomcat’s development and gained popularity as a reliable and robust web server.
5. Version 5.0: Released in 2003, Tomcat 5.0 marked another significant advancement. It fully supported the Servlet 2.4 and JSP 2.0 specifications, and it introduced a more modular architecture. This version also offered improved performance and stability.
6. Version 6.0: Tomcat 6.0 was released in 2007 and featured several notable improvements. It implemented the Servlet 2.5 and JSP 2.1 specifications and introduced support for the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 5.0. Additionally, Tomcat 6.0 enhanced management and administration capabilities.
7. Version 7.0: Tomcat 7.0, released in 2010, provided support for the Servlet 3.0 specification, which introduced features like asynchronous servlets and improved performance. It also added support for the JavaServer Faces (JSF) 2.0 technology.
8. Version 8.0 and beyond: Tomcat 8.0 was released in 2014, offering support for Servlet 3.1 and JSP 2.3. Subsequent versions, such as Tomcat 8.5 and 9.0, provided additional improvements, bug fixes, and compatibility updates.
9. Ongoing Development: The Apache Tomcat project continues to evolve actively. Regular updates and new releases ensure compatibility with the latest Java EE specifications and address security vulnerabilities.

The latest version of Stable Tomcat embed core, version 11.0.14, was released on March of 2023. It includes a number of enhancements, including:

• Support for HTTP/3: Tomcat 11 now supports HTTP/3, which can improve performance and security for web applications.
• Improved security: Tomcat 11 has a number of security enhancements, including support for HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) and improved cookie handling. HSTS is a security mechanism that tells browsers to only connect to a website using HTTPS. Improved cookie handling makes it more difficult for attackers to steal cookies from users.
• Enhanced performance: Tomcat 11 has been optimized for performance, with improvements in areas such as garbage collection and thread management. These improvements can lead to significant performance gains for web applications.
• New features: Tomcat 11 includes a number of new features, such as support for WebSockets and JMX monitoring. WebSockets is a technology that allows for two-way communication between a client and a server. JMX monitoring is a feature that allows for monitoring of Tomcat using the JMX protocol.

To take advantage of these enhancements, you will need to upgrade your application to use Tomcat 11. You can do this by updating your dependency in your pom.xml file:

Code snippet

<dependency>
  <groupId>org.apache.tomcat.embed</groupId>
  <artifactId>tomcat-embed-core</artifactId>
  <version>11.0.14</version>
</dependency>

Use code with caution. Learn morecontent_copy

Once you have updated your dependency, you will need to restart your application. After restarting, your application will be using Tomcat 11 and will benefit from the enhancements that it provides.

Here are some additional details about the enhancements in Tomcat 11:

• HTTP/3: HTTP/3 is a new version of the HTTP protocol that provides a number of performance and security benefits. Tomcat 11 supports HTTP/3 by using the QUIC protocol.
• Improved security: Tomcat 11 has a number of security enhancements, including support for HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) and improved cookie handling. HSTS is a security mechanism that tells browsers to only connect to a website using HTTPS. Improved cookie handling makes it more difficult for attackers to steal cookies from users.
• Enhanced performance: Tomcat 11 has been optimized for performance, with improvements in areas such as garbage collection and thread management. These improvements can lead to significant performance gains for web applications.
• New features: Tomcat 11 includes a number of new features, such as support for WebSockets and JMX monitoring. WebSockets is a technology that allows for two-way communication between a client and a server. JMX monitoring is a feature that allows for monitoring of Tomcat using the JMX protocol.

These are just some of the enhancements that are available in Tomcat 11. If you are using Tomcat embed core, I encourage you to upgrade to Tomcat 11 to take advantage of these enhancements.