Java SE 10 (March 2018) introduced type inference for local variables. Java Language Architect Brian Goetz explains the feature.

Java SE 10 introduced var as the type of a local variable declaration and a lambda formal parameter. The compiler treats var as an identifier with special meaning, but it isn’t considered to be ...

Key Takeaways Java 10 introduces a shiny new feature: type inference for local variables. For local variables, you can now use a special reserved type name “var” instead of actual type.

Reference types also would be supported. This ideally should be the default behavior of Java’s generics, so primitive value types can participate fully in the Java ecosystem, the proposal states.