Benefiting from changes introduced with Java 11

Java 11, was released in September 2018 and had four features, as listed here:

• Dynamic class-file constants
• Epsilon—an arbitrarily low-overhead garbage collector
• Removal of the Java EE and CORBA modules
• Local variable syntax for Lambda parameters

A brief overview of these features is covered in this chapter, with more detailed coverage in subsequent chapters.

Dynamic class-file constants

In Java 11, the file format for Java class files was extended to support CONSTANT_Dynamic, which delegates creation to a bootstrap method. This change will be fully explored in Chapter 3, Java 11 Fundamentals.

Epsilon – an arbitrarily low-overhead garbage collector

Garbage collection enhancements are seemingly part of every Java platform release. Java 11, includes a passive garbage collector that does not reclaim memory. We will explore this in Chapter 7, Leveraging the Default G1 Garbage Collector.

Removal of the Java EE and CORBA modules

The Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) and Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) modules were depreciated in Java 9 and have been removed from the Java platform as of Java 11. Details are provided in Chapter 3, Java 11 Fundamentals.

Local variable syntax for Lambda parameters

As discussed earlier in this chapter, the var identifier was introduced in Java 10. With the latest version, Java 11, var can be used in implicitly typed Lambda expressions. This use of the var identifier is covered in Chapter 3, Java 11 Fundamentals.