[_old_dude_]

I wonder why they have not used jlink + jaotc ?

Maven is already able to compile a the code with Java 6/Java 8 and the module-info with Java 9. With jlink, you can then create your own jdk and AOT the part of the code you want with jaotc.

Maybe those tools are too new and the perf are not great ?

[ptx]

Perhaps the compiled output of jaotc is not suitable for distribution, but is intended more as an equivalent of ngen in .NET?

JEP 295 says: "AOT compilation must be executed on the same system or a system with the same configuration on which AOT code will be used by Java application."