Enter the Java Vector API
One solution to this is to allow Java developers to write code that is explicit about how vector operations should be used. The JIT compiler can translate this directly without the need for autovectorization. This is what the Java Vector API, introduced as an incubator module in JDK 16, is designed to do. Interestingly, this API holds the record for the longest incubating feature in OpenJDK, as it will be in its ninth iteration with the release of JDK 24. As an aside, this is not because it is in a perpetual state of flux but because it is part of a larger project, Valhalla. When Valhalla, which will add value types to Java, is delivered in the OpenJDK, the Vector API will become final.
The Vector API provides a comprehensive set of functionality. First, there are classes to represent each Java primitive numeric type as a vector. A vector species combines these primitive vector forms with CPU-specific registers, so it is simple to understand how to populate data from an array. Vectors can be manipulated using a rich set of operators. There are 103 of them, which cover everything you will realistically need.
The Vector API provides developers with everything they need to enable the JIT compiler to generate highly optimized code for numerically intensive operations. Since most things result in manipulating numbers (strings are, after all, just sequences of characters encoded to numbers), this can lead to significant performance improvements.
