Oracle has finally announced the General Availability of the most anticipated open-source implementation of Java SE 8 (Java Standard Edition 8) which is the JDK 8 (Java Development Kit 8) last March 18, 2014. JDK 8 was supposed to be released last September 2013 but was delayed to work on its security issues and other bugs.

The following are some of the features and improvements of JDK 8 mentioned in an article published at Oracle’s website:

Java Programming Language: Introduction of a new language feature calledLambda Expressions which let you express instances of single-method interfaces more compactly.

Collections: Performance Improvement for HashMaps with Key Collisions.

Compact Profiles contain predefined subsets of the Java SE platform and enable applications that do not require the entire Platform to be deployed and run on a small devices.

Security enhancements such as: Client-side TLS 1.2 enabled by default; stronger algorithms for password-based encryption; SSL/TLS Server Name Indication (SNI) Extension support in JSSE Server; SHA-224 Message Digests; 64-bit PKCS11 for Windows; New rcache Types in Kerberos 5 Replay Caching; and more.
JavaFX: The new SwingNode class enables developers to embed Swing content into JavaFX.

New Tools: jjs command is provided to invoke the Nashorn engine;java command launches JavaFX applications; java man page has been reworked; jdeps command-line tool is provided for analysing class files; Java Management Extensions (JMX) provide remote access to diagnostic commands; jarsigner tool has an option for requesting a signed time stamp from a Time Stamping Authority (TSA); and improved Javac tool.
Internalization: Unicode Enhancements, including support for Unicode 6.2.0; Adoption of Unicode CLDR Data and the java.locale.providers System Property. New Calendar and Locale APIs; and Ability to Install a Custom Resource Bundle as an Extension.

Deployment: The permission attribute is required in the JAR file manifest of the main JAR file at all security levels.

Date-Time Package: a new set of packages that provide a comprehensive date-time model.

Scripting: Nashorn Javascript Engine.

Pack200: Pack200 Support for Constant Pool Entries and New Bytecodes Introduced by JSR 292.

IO and NIO: Decrease in the size of the /jre/lib/charsets.jar file.

Java.lang and java.util Package: Parallel Array Sorting; Standard Encoding and Decoding Base 64; and Unsigned Arithmetic Support.

JDBC: The JDBC-ODBC Bridge has been removed.

Java DB: Java DB 10.10 included.

Networking: The class java.net.URLPermission has been added.

Concurrency: Classes and interfaces have been added to the java.util.concurrent package.

Java XML – JAXP.

HotSpot: Default Methods in the Java Programming Language are supported by the byte code instructions for method invocation.

Java Mission Control 5.3 Release Notes: JDK 8 includes Java Mission Control 5.3.

Key features of Java 8 have also been presented in a webcast last March 25, 2014. Oracle also promoted the release of Java Platform, Standard Edition (SE 8), Java Platform, Micro Edition 8 (ME 8) and other Java Embedded products during the webcast. Over 30 technical videos of Java SE 8, Java ME 8, Java Embedded and the Internet of Things are now available at Oracle’s website.

Java Development Kit 8, also known as JDK 8, is based on Java Standard Edition 8 and was supposed to be released in the 3rd quarter of 2013. However, it was pushed back to have more focus on its security issues. In September 2013, a blog posted by Mark Rheinhold, Oracle’s Chief Architect of the Java Platform Group announced that they released a preview build of JDK 8 for developers for initial testing. The main attraction of the release is the Project Lambda which will support programming on multicore processors. JDK 8 also offers other features such as new date and time API, compact profiles, and the Nashorn JavaScript engine according to Rheinhold.

Another update has been released regarding the development of JDK 8 last January 13, 2014 by Mathias Axelsson, Oracle JDK 8 Release Manager. According to his post on a Java mailing list, they will have the JDK 8 release candidate built before the January 23 deadline and have it shipped on March 18.

Axelsson said that they have been doing a lot of bug fixing to be able to have a release candidate on the last week of January. For JDK 8’s initial release, they are going to prioritize to fix the showstopper bugs. Non-showstopper bugs’ fixes will be postponed to keep track of its schedule. According to Axelsson, “We have a few fixes that are pending integration but overall things are looking very good and we’re on-track to have the release candidate built before the January 23 deadline.”

He also mentioned that they are making minor changes to the build promotion schedule as the deadline of final release candidate approaches. They will complete the promoted build on January 16 in accordance to the build schedule. Builds will be done on the request according to what fixes have gone in after January 16. “We’re making this adjustment to keep the turnaround time as short as possible if we have to take a fix and respin,” Axelsson added.