The latest version of popular Java web server Jetty has been officially released, bringing with it much-anticipated support for SPDY and WebSocket protocols.



As originally outlined last August, Jetty 9 brings a host of small changes in addition to delivering two hyped technologies. SPDY is Google’s reworking of the HTTP protocol which allows for multiplexed requests and the ability to ‘push’ resources, among other speed-boosting improvements.



The WebSocket protocol, meanwhile, allows for permanent connections between the browser (or other client) and server with very low latency. While SPDY is only so far implemented by modern versions of Firefox and Chrome, almost all modern browsers now feature support for WebSockets.



Under the hood, the I/O layer has been “completely overhauled” as part of the adoption of SPDY and WebSockets. It’s said to provide both faster speeds and make it easier for Jetty’s developers to add new protocols in the future.



Like its predecessor, Jetty 9 only supports Servlet API 3.0, although a future minor update is promised once version 3.1 – which includes non-blocking IO – is released. Meanwhile, JSP support has been kept up to date, with an upgrade to unnoteworthy maintenance version, 2.2.



For early adopters eager to try it out, Jetty 9 is available to download now. The new release requires Java 1.7 or newer – but since SE 6 has now passed its end-of-life date, that shouldn’t be an issue for anyone, right?