Navnit Raj
Java 12,13,14,15,16 new features

Java 12,13,14,15,16 new features

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Navnit Raj
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Let's briefly go through some of the key features introduced in Java versions 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16, along with examples where applicable.

Java 12:

  1. Switch Expressions (JEP 325):

    • Enhances the switch statement to be more expressive.
    // Before Java 12
    String typeOfDay = "";
    switch (dayOfWeek) {
        case "Monday":
        case "Wednesday":
        case "Friday":
            typeOfDay = "Workday";
            break;
        case "Saturday":
        case "Sunday":
            typeOfDay = "Weekend";
            break;
        default:
            typeOfDay = "Invalid day";
            break;
    }

    // With Java 12
    String typeOfDay = switch (dayOfWeek) {
        case "Monday", "Wednesday", "Friday" -> "Workday";
        case "Saturday", "Sunday" -> "Weekend";
        default -> "Invalid day";
    };

Java 13:

  1. Text Blocks (JEP 355):

    • Introduces a new type of literal for multiline strings.
    // Before Java 13
    String html = "<html>\n" +
                  "  <body>\n" +
                  "    <p>Hello, Java 13!</p>\n" +
                  "  </body>\n" +
                  "</html>";

    // With Java 13
    String html = """
                  <html>
                    <body>
                      <p>Hello, Java 13!</p>
                    </body>
                  </html>
                  """;

Java 14:

  1. Switch Expressions (Standard Feature):

    • Switch expressions were made a standard feature in Java 14.
    // Java 14
    String typeOfDay = switch (dayOfWeek) {
        case "Monday", "Wednesday", "Friday" -> "Workday";
        case "Saturday", "Sunday" -> "Weekend";
        default -> "Invalid day";
    };

  1. Pattern Matching for instanceof (JEP 305):

    • Simplifies the use of instanceof and type casting.
    // Before Java 14
    if (obj instanceof String) {
        String s = (String) obj;
        // use 's'
    }

    // With Java 14
    if (obj instanceof String s) {
        // use 's'
    }

Java 15:

  1. Text Blocks (Standard Feature):

    • Text blocks were made a standard feature in Java 15.
    String query = """
                   SELECT *
                   FROM employees
                   WHERE department = 'IT'
                   ORDER BY salary DESC
                   """;

Java 16:

  1. JEP 376: ZGC: Concurrent Thread-Stack Processing:

    • Enhances the Z Garbage Collector (ZGC) with concurrent thread-stack processing.

  2. JEP 382: New macOS Rendering Pipeline:

    • Introduces a new rendering pipeline for macOS.

  3. JEP 383: Foreign-Memory Access API (Second Incubator):

    • Continues to enhance the Foreign-Memory Access API as an experimental feature.
    // Example using Foreign-Memory Access API
    try (MemorySegment segment = MemorySegment.allocateNative(1024)) {
        // Perform operations on the native memory segment
    }

These are just a few highlights of the features introduced in Java versions 12 through 16. Each release also includes various improvements, bug fixes, and other enhancements.

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