Exploring the New Features of Java SE8

On 18^th March 2014, Oracle released Java Platform, Standard Edition 8 as a major feature release. Java SE8 comes with several features that were originally planned for Java SE7 but later deferred. While migrating to the most recent version of Java, you must understand the new features and enhancements for both Java programming language and Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

Overview of Major New Features of Java SE8

Lambda Expressions

Oracle has included Lambda Expressions in Java SE8 as a new language feature. The new syntactical capabilities enable Java programmers to carry out functional programming. They can use Lambda expressions to treat code as data, or functionality as a method argument. At the same time, the feature enables developers to express instances of single-method interfaces in a more compact and simplified way. Lambda Expression further help programmers in creating and maintaining custom classes without writing longer lines of code.

The Stream API

The Stream API enables programmers to manage a variety of collections including maps, lists and sets. Further, it does not require developers to write explicit looping code to deal with individual items in a collection. The feature further improves the performance of large and complex datasets by allowing developers to break the processing into multiple CPUs.

Date and Time API

Java SE8 further comes with a new API to effectuate management of date and time without using the older classes. The older classes still included in Java Runtime. But Java programmers can use the new API to effectively manage time zones, local dates and times, and calculating difference between different times. Further, the new capabilities make it easier for Java developers to streamline their code.

Nashorn JavaScript Engine

The Nashorn JavaScript Engine is included in Java SE8 for the first time. The engine enables developers to write code in JavaScript, and then integrate the code in Java classes and objects. It works with a native JVM to implement a lightweight high-performance JavaScript runtime within Java. The developers now have option to use jrunscript command-line tool to create freestanding JavaScript applications. As JavaScript has become an integral part of web ecosystem, the integration will make it easier for web developers to avail the benefits of the latest version of Java programming language.

Bulk Data Operations for Collections

Java SE8 comes with two distinct packages to effectuate creation and manipulation of bulk data operations for collections, i.e., java.util.stream and java.util.function package. Despite being identical to an iterator, the stream has additional functionality to facilitate collection processing. The developers also have option to use streams in both serially and parallel. At the same time, the java.util.stream package also supports a number of useful functions including count, min, max, filter, limit, collect, reduce and substream.

Security

Java SE8 is also designed with several features to optimize the security of applications. Along with stronger algorithms for password-based authentication, it also implements the SecureRandom API more efficiently. The better implementation of SecureRandom API resolves the issues related to blocking and non-blocking system calls.

New Tools

Java SE8 also comes with a set of tools to help programmers in creating modern applications. For instance, programmers can now use the enhanced currency API to manage and accumulate values in multiple threads. They can use new tools to aggregate integers, doubles, lungs and similar numbers. Likewise, Java SE8 provides new tools to create delimited lists in the string class. The programmers can further use new tools to effectively detect null situations.

On the whole, the Java SE8 comes with several new features to support easier and faster application development. Further, the features aim to make programmers, while enhancing the way they write Java code. So programmers can now migrate to Java SE8 to rapidly create modern and user-friendly applications.You can get in touch with a Java web development company who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

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