JAVA 8 released

Dear Techies,
   Java 8 has been launched on 25/03/2014, its a revolution in computing world, heres a survey by Forbes, you'll like it :

Java, the programming language used by millions of developers, is now even better. The launch of Java 8 on March 25 represents the most significant update to the Java programming model ever, and demonstrates that Java is thriving among a worldwide community of programmers, code contributors, and users.
Technology-enabled innovation has become a top priority for businesses everywhere. Coming up with the next cool product or service and winning customers requires new ways of doing things. And software has become integral to business innovation—both for organizations that consider themselves tech companies and those that don’t.
Java 8 is a platform for innovation. It enables developers to create applications—faster and easier—for business environments, the cloud, and the emerging Internet of Things (IoT). And, with Java 8, developers can leverage a common skill set across this wide span of platforms and application types.

  So if your company is on the path to innovation, Java 8 can get you there. Here are eight things everyone should know about the newest version of Java.

1. It enables the Internet of Things. Java 8 can help businesses take part in the world of connected, always-on devices. Think smart appliances in the home and billions of wearable devices, medical sensors, connected vehicles, smart meters, and industrial controllers. The opportunities are endless. Both Java SE 8 and Java ME 8—the two platforms that make up Java 8, along with Oracle ORCL +0.38%’s related embedded products—provide a scalable, flexible, secure development platform for the Internet of Things.
2. Less code means more productivity. Java 8 facilitates improved developer productivity through reduced boilerplate code. This is due in large part to lambda expressions, which are the most significant and anticipated new feature in Java SE 8. Lambdas (for short) let developers simplify the code they write every day. Developers can expect the way they do their jobs to change: They will be able to write code that is more compact, simpler, and easier to maintain.
3. Modernize your apps. Java 8 takes a giant step forward in modernizing the Java language and Java libraries. One example is a new date and time application programming interface that reduces the complexity for developers when handling date and time, especially when dealing with internationalization and localization for different markets. The existing date and time library was more than 15 years old. It has been re-engineered using modern design practices.
4. Embedded technology is a big deal. Developers building embedded apps can use one of three new Compact Profiles in Java SE 8. These predefined subsets of the full Java SE 8 specification support the creation of smaller applications for resource-constrained devices. That means Java SE can be deployed on embedded devices using as little as a 10 MB static footprint and 16 MB of RAM.
5. Create eye-popping graphics. JavaFX 8 is a graphics toolkit included in JDK 8 that lets developers build rich client applications using standard Java development tools. It includes an embedded graphics stack, new UI controls and 3D graphics features, and HTML5 support. JavaFX 8 also brings a fresh, modern look to applications with its new Modena theme.
6. Java 8 is integrated with JavaScript. Java and JavaScript are not the same thing. JavaScript is a popular language with features similar to Java’s that is ideal for transmitting code across networks. Java SE 8 includes Nashorn, a JavaScript engine that runs on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and allows Java applications to contain components written in JavaScript. When developers want to use both Java and JavaScript, Nashorn can deliver significant performance improvements and interoperability between Java and JavaScript code.
7. A worldwide community is behind Java 8. The Java 8 release represents a huge collaborative effort by the worldwide Java community. Java user groups provided ongoing feedback to Specification Leads, made requests for functionality, uncovered bugs, and contributed to code fixes. The OpenJDK community provided a way for developers to collaborate on the open source reference implementation of the Java SE platform. And the Java Community Process—with representation from the likes of IBM IBM +1%, Intel INTC +1.5%, Red Hat , and SAP —provided a means for organizations and individuals to contribute to the Java platform.
8. It’s available and free to download. With the March 25 launch of Java 8, you can now download JDK 8, Oracle Java SE Embedded 8, Java ME SDK 8 Early Access 2, and Oracle Java ME Embedded 8 Early Access 2.

What is Java and Its basic features ?

Java technology is both a programming language and a platform also. Which can be used to write and run java programs.

Features of Java :

1 Simple, Object Oriented, and Familiar

Java programming language is a simple language that can be programmed without extensive programmer training.

The Java programming language is designed to be object oriented from the ground up. The needs of distributed, client-server based systems coincide with the encapsulated, message-passing paradigms of object-based software. To function within increasingly complex, network-based environments, programming systems must adopt object-oriented concepts. Java technology provides a clean and efficient object-based development platform.

Even though C++ was rejected as an implementation language, keeping the Java programming language looking like C++ as far as possible results in it being a familiar language, while removing the unnecessary complexities of C++. Having the Java programming language retain many of the object-oriented features and the "look and feel" of C++ means that programmers can migrate easily to the Java platform and be productive quickly.

2 Robust and Secure

The Java programming language is designed for creating highly reliable software. It provides extensive compile-time checking, followed by a second level of run-time checking.

There are no explicit programmer-defined pointer data types, no pointer arithmetic, automatic garbage collection and excellent mechanism for exception handling that makes it a robust programming language. You can write the programs without worrying about memory leak etc.  

ava technology is designed to operate in distributed environments, which means that security is of paramount importance. With security features designed into the language and run-time system, Java technology lets you construct applications that can't be invaded from outside. In the network environment, applications written in the Java programming language are secure from intrusion by unauthorized code attempting to get behind the scenes and create viruses or invade file systems.

3 Architecture Neutral and Portable

Java technology is designed to support applications that will be deployed into heterogeneous network environments. In such environments, applications must be capable of executing on a variety of hardware architectures. Within this variety of hardware platforms, applications must execute atop a variety of operating systems and interoperate with multiple programming language interfaces. To accommodate the diversity of operating environments, the Java Compiler ^TM product generates bytecodes--an architecture neutral intermediate format designed to transport code efficiently to multiple hardware and software platforms. The interpreted nature of Java technology solves both the binary distribution problem and the version problem; the same Java programming language byte codes will run on any platform.

4 High Performance

Performance is always a consideration. The Java platform achieves superior performance by adopting a scheme by which the interpreter can run at full speed without needing to check the run-time environment. The automatic garbage collector runs as a low-priority background thread, ensuring a high probability that memory is available when required, leading to better performance. 

5 Interpreted, Threaded

The Java interpreter can execute Java bytecodes directly on any machine to which the interpreter and run-time system have been ported. 

Modern network-based applications, such as the HotJava ^TM Browser for the World Wide Web, typically need to do several things at the same time. A user working with HotJava Browser can run several animations concurrently while downloading an image and scrolling the page. Java technology's multithreading capability provides the means to build applications with many concurrent threads of activity. Multithreading thus results in a high degree of interactivity for the end user.

History and versions of Java

Before Java emerged as a programming language, C++ was the dominant player in the trade. The primary goals that the creators of Java was to create a language that could tackle most of the things that C++ offered while getting rid of some of the more tedious tasks that came with the earlier languages.
Computer hardware went through a performance and price revolution from 1972 to 1991. Better, faster hardware was available at lesser price and the demand for big and complex software exponentially increased. To accommodate the demand, new development technologies were invented.
The C language developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie had taken a decade to become the most popular language amongst programmers. But, with time programmers found that programming in C became tedious with its structural syntax. Although, people attempted solving this problem, it would be later that a new development philosophy was introduced, one named Object-Oriented Programming. With OOP, a person may write a certain code which may be reused later without rewriting the code over and over again. In 1979, Bjarne Stroustrup developed C++, an enhancement to the C language with included OOP fundamentals and features.

Behind closed doors, a project was initiated in December of 1990, whose aim was to create a programming tool that could render obsolete the C and C++ programming languages. Engineer Patrick Naughton had become extremely frustrated with the state of Sun's C++ and C APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and tools. While he was considering to move towards NEXT, he was offered a chance to work on new technology and the Stealth Project was started, a secret nobody but he knew.

This Stealth Project was later named the Green Project when James Gosling and Mike Sheridan joined Patrick. Over the period of time that the Green Project teethed, the prospects of the project started becoming clearer to the engineers working on it. No longer was its aim to create a new language far superior to the present ones, but it aimed to target the language to devices other than the computer.

Staffed at 13 people, they began work in a small office on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. This team would be called Green Team henceforth in time. The project they underwent was chartered by Sun Microsystems to anticipate and plan for the "next-wave" in computing. For the team, this meant at least one significant trend, that of the convergence of digitally controlled consumer devices and computers.

Versions:

Major release versions of Java, along with their release dates:

• JDK 1.0 (January 21, 1996)
• JDK 1.1 (February 19, 1997)
• J2SE 1.2 (December 8, 1998)
• J2SE 1.3 (May 8, 2000)
• J2SE 1.4 (February 6, 2002)
• J2SE 5.0 (September 30, 2004)
• Java SE 6 (December 11, 2006)
• Java SE 7 (July 28, 2011)
• Java SE 8 (March 18, 2014)