Goodbye 2016 (Hello 2017)
SitePoint Java Newsletter VIII (16-Dec-2016)
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As 2016 comes to a close I want to dedicate this year’s last newsletter to looking back over the last twelve months as well as daring a quick look into the coming twelve.
Goodbye 2016
After the release of Java 8 settled in, the community took more time to look at how functional programming techniques could be adopted. One example of this is Javaslang, which got a lot more publicity in 2016. If you’re looking for a library to help you get started with FP in Java, I would recommend this one.
At the same time the community started trying out Java 9 and this triggered a lot of discussions. Everyone, including the JDK team, is sure that this will be a special release in Java’s history with regards to compatibility. No other before it had so much potential to break existing projects and needed so much courage to bring the changes the language needs in spite of the trouble that might cause. The biggest discussions revolved around how the conflict between encapsulation and reflection could be resolved. It is a safe bet that Java 9 adoption will be slower than Java 8.
While Java 9 and particularly the module system were of course the dominating topics, they were by no means the only ones regarding the language’s evolution. The JDK team provided some thrilling insights into what they are working on and I find the current ideas pretty awesome!
In the beginning of 2016 some feared Oracle would abandon Java EE and this caused quite some uproar. As a consequence the Java EE Guardians formed, “an independent group of people interested in moving Java EE forward”, which is “very concerned about Oracle’s current lack of commitment to Java EE”. At JavaOne Oracle renewed its commitment to the platform and promised to address these worries. I’d say the jury is still out on whether they deliver on that promise.
After almost six years, the dispute between Oracle and Google came to a new climax in May with a preliminary win for Google and, as I see it, the software community as a whole. The jury decided that implementing the Java APIs was “fair use” and thus no copyright infringement. Oracle is going to appeal the decision, though, so the final word has not yet been said about this.
Hello 2017
The big thing will obviously be Java SE 9! The general availability release is currently planned for July 27th, although some people doubt whether Oracle can make that happen. If you want to know what to expect, check out these posts.
It’s not the only big release that’s in the making, though. At JavaOne Oracle announced that Java EE 8 would be published before September 2017.
When Java 9 is finally out, the JDK development team will of course shift their attention to the next version and I’m sure they will continue to give insights into how the language will be evolved. I’m really looking forward to this!
Wrapping Things Up
Let me leave you with a couple of articles I think you might find interesting. On SitePoint:
Other interesting publications about Java:
- Three updated JEPs for Augment Use-Site Variance with Declaration-Site Defaults, Enhanced Enums, andLambda Leftovers
- Feeding Spring Boot metrics to Elasticsearch by Nicolas Fränkel
- Guide to Selenium with JUnit / TestNG by Eugen Baeldung
Posts about software development in general:
- A beginner’s guide to SQL injection and how you should prevent it by Vlad Mihalcea
- Matching that there was a discussion about that very vulnerability in PHP: SQL injections vulnerabilities in Stack Overflow PHP questions by Laurent Cozic and That PHP Graph by Aurynn Shaw
- Technical Liabilities and not Technical Debt by Allan Kelly
I wish you a great time, relaxing holidays, and a happy new year!
so long … Nicolai
PS: Don’t forget to subscribe. :)
