New features in Java 9

As with any new version of the JDK, this release was packed with a lot of great new features. Of course, what is most appealing will vary based on your needs, but we'll focus specifically on a handful of these new features that are most relevant to the projects we'll build together. First up is the most significant, the Java Module System.

Java Platform Module System/Project Jigsaw

Despite being a solid, feature-packed release, Java 8 was considered by a fair number to be a bit disappointing. It lacked the much anticipated Java Platform Module System (JPMS), also known more colloquially, though not quite accurately, as Project Jigsaw. The Java Platform Module System was originally slated to ship with Java 7 in 2011, but it was deferred to Java 8 due to some lingering technical concerns. Project Jigsaw was started not only to finish the module system, but also to modularize the JDK itself, which would help Java SE scale down to smaller devices, such as mobile phones and...