Can I use any version of Java SE with Java EE 8?

Question

With every new release of Java EE, there's a bunch of new improvements and additions to the technology stack that come under it. JSF, JPA, EJBs will all have different versions associated with this new release. (Java EE 8 - JSF 2.3, JSP2.3, JPA 2.2, EJBs 3.2)

Java SE platform is releasing new version of Java SE every 6 months or so. How does this change fit in with the Java EE?

For example, if I'm developing an application in Java EE 8 which Java SE(9,10,11,12) should I use?

1. Can I use any version of Java SE with Java EE? (Java EE 8 + Java SE 11) or (Java EE 8 + Java SE 8) or (Java EE 8 + Java SE 10).

How does Java EE handles the ever changing Java SE? Because there's specific version specified for every technology used in Java EE 8 like JSF 2.3, JSP2.3, JPA 2.2, EJBs 3.2 .

2. Why isn't a specific version of Java SE used in Java EE to do the programming?

Answer 1

JDK 8+ is required, but...

It actually depends on your Java EE 8 vendor.

Java EE 8 (a.k.a. Jakarta EE) has a few API elements that require JDK 8, so the definitive baseline is at least JDK 8.

For instance, I use Wildfly 16 (= Java EE 8) with JDK 12 and it works flawlessly so far, though JDK 8 is required.

Other vendors like Glassfish, Weblogic might require different versions. Glassfish, for instance doesn't work yet on JDK 9+.