SCIENCE

Oracle is announcing its plans for advancing the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) and optimizing it for new application models and hardware, including extended support for scripting languages, increased developer productivity and lower operational costs.

The announced roadmap for the OpenJDK accelerates the availability of Java SE with two releases, one in 2011 and one in 2012. These OpenJDK releases will continue to serve as the basis for the Oracle Java Development Kit (JDK) 7 and JDK 8.

The decisions regarding the features to be included in the JDK 7 and JDK 8 releases were made with active participation of the Java community.

The OpenJDK project continues to thrive with contributions from Oracle, as well as other companies, researchers and individuals. The OpenJDK licensing model remains the same.

Oracle is currently working to merge the Oracle Java HotSpot Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and the Oracle JRockit JVM into a converged offering that leverages the best features of each of these market-leading implementations.

Oracle plans to contribute the results of the combined Oracle Java HotSpot and Oracle JRockit JVMs to the OpenJDK project.

The Oracle JDK and Java Runtime Environment (JRE) will continue to be available as free downloads, with no changes to the existing licensing models.

Premium offerings such as JRockit Mission Control, JRockit Real Time, Java for Business and Enterprise Support will continue to be made available for an additional charge.

Proposed Features of JDK 7 and JDK 8

Proposed JDK 7 Features

InvokeDynamic byte code and supporting features for dynamic languages

Fork/Join Framework and related concurrency and collections API enhancements for improved multi-threaded Java code

Small Language Enhancements (most of “Project Coin”) for higher developer productivity and cleaner, more concise Java code

Session Description Protocol (SDP) and Stream Control Transport Protocol (SCTP) support

New I/O APIs – A flexible filesystem API, and asynchronous I/O

Support for updated standards - Unicode, localization, security, cryptography, XML and JDBC

JVM performance improvements

Proposed JDK 8 Features

Lambda expressions (”closures”) for higher developer productivity and better leveraging of multi-core CPUs

Small language enhancements (Remaining parts of “Project Coin”)

A Java-native module system (“Project Jigsaw”) to simplify the construction, packaging, and deployment of applications

JVM start-up time and ergonomics improvements