Sberbank Offers Its Own Environment for Building Java Applications
The open-source SberJDK platform supports the Java SE standard and allows companies to develop software independently of foreign vendors.
The basic version of the solution is included in Russia’s national software registry and is distributed free of charge under an open-source license.
An Open-Source Platform
SberJDK is a Russian build of the Java Development Kit (JDK) and Java Runtime Environment (JRE) designed to develop and run Java applications. Its runtime environment fully complies with the Java SE standard. The source code, written in Java and C++, is published on the GitVerse platform under the GNU General Public License (GPL). This gives developers the freedom to study the solution’s architecture and adapt it to their own needs.
SberJDK also includes an optimized Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and improved Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation. Additional security and isolation mechanisms were built in to meet Russian data protection standards. The result is an environment that covers the full development cycle, allowing developers to write, compile, debug, and run Java applications.
The platform also uses artificial intelligence to fine-tune the runtime environment. Machine-learning models were used to identify bottlenecks and automatically select optimizations, delivering a performance gain of about 20 percent on target workloads without changes to application code. The AI-based solutions, however, are being developed as a separate area and have not yet been included in the basic open-source version.
Tested on Mission-Critical Systems
Sberbank has already migrated its Java environment to the new platform, demonstrating its reliability on mission-critical systems. Building its own distribution addresses several practical needs: encryption and isolation mechanisms required to meet national regulatory requirements can be built directly into the core code, while the platform can be optimized for specific server hardware.
Access Without Geographic Boundaries
Java remains one of the most widely used programming languages, underpinning banking, telecommunications, and industrial systems. SberJDK is primarily aimed at development teams in large and midsize businesses, as well as systems integrators and independent programmers building enterprise applications.
Publishing the source code under the GNU GPL makes the platform available to professionals and companies worldwide, regardless of where they are based. With the code open to inspection, anyone can study, adapt, and deploy the platform in their own IT systems, while independent developers can review and improve its functionality.
Full-Cycle Development Tools
Sberbank’s new platform is one example of the IT products Russian programmers have developed in recent years as part of import substitution.
For example, in 2021, SberTech launched Platform V, a platform that brings together more than 80 products. In 2024, the company added GIGA IDE with the GigaCode AI assistant, which speeds up code writing by 25 percent. In March 2024, it launched GitVerse for collaborative development, integrated with the Platform V SberLinux OS Server operating system. One example of these tools in practice is Gazprom CPS, which configured an end-to-end CI/CD pipeline for secure software development, cutting the time needed to launch software from several weeks to one day by using ready-made templates and automating routine operations.
In April 2025, PJSC Astra Group, JSC Axiom, and Haulmont LLC launched the OpenIDE open development environment platform through Open Development Environment LLC. Haulmont provides the Amplicode plugin with Spring Framework support, Axiom makes its Java platform available, and OpenIDE is integrated with GitFlic from Resolute LLC, a subsidiary of Astra. Users have access to a marketplace with 300 plugins and support for Java, Kotlin, Python, Go, C#, PHP, JavaScript, and TypeScript. AI agents can be connected through the ACP protocol. At the end of 2025, OpenIDE was added to Russia’s national software registry.
Growth Through Openness and Collaboration
The new platform complements solutions already available on the market. Publishing SberJDK’s source code makes it accessible to a broad community of professionals and creates a foundation for building an open developer community.
Over the next few years, the success of projects like this will depend not only on product quality, but also on how actively participants contribute, the availability of detailed documentation, reliable technical support, and compatible tools.
Looking ahead, Sber plans to continue evaluating opportunities to use the technology beyond its own infrastructure and plans to validate the results on new classes of industrial workloads.
