Enhanced method handles [JEP-274]

The Enhanced Method Handles JEP-274 was to improve the following listed classes, to make common usage easier with improved optimizations:

• MethodHandle class
• MethodHandles class
• MethodHandles.Lookup class

The listed classes are all part of the java.lang.invoke package, which has been updated as part of the Java 9 platform. The improvements were made possible through the use of lookup refinement and MethodHandle combinations for loops and try...finally blocks.

In this section, we will look at the following regarding JEP-274:

• Reason for the enhancement
• Lookup functions
• Argument handling
• Additional combinations

Reason for the enhancement

This enhancement stemmed from developer feedback and the desire to make the MethodHandle, MethodHandles, and MethodHandles.Lookup classes much easier to use. There was also the call to add additional use cases.

The changes resulted in the following benefits:

• Enabled precision in the usage of the MethodHandle API
• Instantiation reduction
• Increased...