Java SE 7: Could It Be?
Pinch me I must be dreaming! Java SE 7 has finally, officially, been released and made available for download here. This is the first release of the Java platform under Oracle stewardship.
Java SE 7 delivers:
- JSR 334: Project Coin — Language changes to help increase developer productivity and simplify common programming tasks by reducing the amount of code needed, clarifying syntax, and making code easier to read.
- JSR 292: InvokeDynamic — Improved support for dynamic languages (including Ruby, Python, and JavaScript), resulting in substantial performance increases on the JVM.
- JSR 166: Fork/Join Framework — A new multicore-ready API that enables developers to more easily decompose problems into tasks that can then be executed in parallel across arbitrary numbers of processor cores. I wrote a piece on this for Dr. Dobb's here.
- JSR 203: NIO.2 — A comprehensive I/O interface for working with file systems that can access a wider array of file attributes and offer more information when errors occur.
- New networking and security features.
- Expanded support for internationalization, including Unicode 6.0 support.
- Updated versions of numerous libraries.
If you're interested in getting started immediately with the Java SE 7 release, you can leverage the NetBeans Integrated Development Environment (IDE) 7.0, Eclipse Indigo with the additional Java SE 7 plug-in, or IntelliJ IDEA 10.5 — all of which support the latest features of the Java SE 7 platform. Ironically, Oracle JDeveloper support for JDK 7 is intended for release later this year.
Java Facts and Figures
- 97% of enterprise desktops run Java.
- 1 billion Java downloads each year.
- 9 million developers worldwide.
- #1 programming language (TIOBE Programming Community Index).
- More than 3 billion devices are powered by Java technology.
Further Reading
Java 7 Celebration Webcast Replay
Java Platform, Standard Edition
Follow the conversation on Twitter: follow @Java and use #java7
Happy coding!
—EJB
