Java 9 Features Announced

This one looks like a really massive update.

A series of Java Enhancement Proposals (JEPs) has been published on OpenJDK concerning the next major update (Java 9). Previous rumors about Java 9 features haven't had very much weight, nor particularly interesting new features, but this new feature list is packed with developer favorites that the community has been requesting for many years.

These features include:

A light-weight JSON API — which is a source of great speculation right now about how truly useful this feature will be (as proposed by the community process).
A HTTP 2 Client — for HTTP 2.0 and websockets.
Process API Improvements — to improve the API for controlling and managing OS processes.
Improved contended locking —for increasing performance between threads.
Segmented Code Cache — to improved execution time for complicated benchmarks.
Smart Java Compilation (Part 2) — Makes the sjavac tool available in the default JDK.
Modular Source Code — organizes JDK source code into modules.

I'm sure plenty of you are looking pretty happy right about now. Many people have commented about how long the Java community has been waiting for a dedicated JSON API to clean up that whole mess—and performance improvements are always welcome here. The HTTP 2 client was some expected, but the updated sjavac compiler seems very interesting.

Finally a standard built-in JSON API and HTTP client. No more do you have to rely on clunky third party APIs for these. Though it remains to be seen how these will perform.

Source: 403 Forbidden

More details:

JEP 198: Light-Weight JSON API
JEP 110: HTTP 2 Client
JEP 102: Process API Updates
JEP 143: Improve Contended Locking
JEP 197: Segmented Code Cache
JEP 199: Smart Java Compilation, Phase Two
JEP 201: Modular Source Code

Finally an optimized JSON API. A lot of things are a welcoming addition to the crown.

Yeah. Before this I used to wonder if there was an easy way to deserialize JSON into a Java object.

I think it's time they make some changes to language as well - such as optional parameters.

They already added lambda expressions in Java 8.

DeSmOnD dAvId said:
They already added lambda expressions in Java 8.

How does that relate to Optional/Default valued parameters? I think optional parameters could greatly simplify Java API, which I honestly find overwhelming.

I meant from the changes in the language point of view.