Oracle introduced its new open-source framework, Helidon, in September 2018. Originally named Java for Cloud, Helidon is a collection of Java libraries for creating microservices-based applications.

Here's a quick JDBC with HSQLDB tutorial to get you up and running with Java database connectivity and the popular HyperSQL database.

Java has been raked over the coals for security problems over the past few years, but Oracle has kept regular updates coming. And it's working on a major upgrade to Java, due early next year.