Foreword
Java 8 was released in March 2014, and the 6th edition of Java in a Nutshell came out a few months later. In the intervening four and a half years, there have been a great many changes in the Java world. The biggest news has been the arrival of Java’s platform modules (Project Jigsaw), and the change to a new six-month release cycle. These two developments are key to allowing the Java platform and ecosystem to continue to evolve and succeed for another 20 years.
The long-delayed Java 9 release (which introduced modules) has been followed by Java 10 and 11 in quick succession, with Java 8 and 11 being the current long-term supported releases. These changes in release cadence have brought the open source OpenJDK to the forefront of the Java world, as now virtually all Java releases are based upon, and licensed under, the open codebase.
With the continued development of the platform, it has adapted well to new frontiers (such as cloud and microservices) due to new features that have arrived in Java 9 to Java 11. The Java world seems well placed to continue to thrive in the coming years, whether developers are working with the trusty workhorse of Java 8 or joining the microservices world with Java 11.
In either case, this is a great time to be joining (or returning to) application development in Java. Looking forward, the future holds some major changes (such as value types) that will alter the character of Java development in fundamental ways. The next year or two will start to see these changes arrive and become part of the Java developer’s everyday experience.
Once again, in working on this new edition of David’s classic text, if I have preserved the feel of Java in a Nutshell, while updating it to bring it to the attention of a new generation of developers, then I shall be well satisfied.
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