JDK 7
Features
This is the list of features being developed by Oracle, and others, for JDK 7.
When the Java SE 7 Platform JSR is submitted then these features will be proposed therein, except for those listed as either VM-level or implementation-specific.
Comments to: jdk7-dev at openjdk.java.net
Summary
Features are listed in order, more or less, from lowest to highest in the overall JDK software stack.
Features that were planned but later dropped are listed at the bottom of this page.
VM
Compressed 64-bit object pointers
A technique for compressing 64-bit pointers to
fit into 32 bits, which decreases memory and memory-bandwidth
consumption and thereby improves performance (VM-level
feature)
Lead: Coleen Phillimore
Links: wiki
page
Milestone target: M1
Garbage-First GC (G1)
A new garbage collector that promises to
achieve lower pause times and better predictability than the
current CMS collector (VM-level feature)
Lead: Tony
Printezis
Links: ISMM 2004
paper;
summary
Milestone target: M1
JSR 292: VM support for non-Java languages
(InvokeDynamic)
VM extensions to support the implementation of
non-Java languages at performance levels near to that of the Java
language itself
Lead: John
Rose
Milestone target: M3
Language
JSR 294: Language and VM support for modular
programming
Enhancements to the Java language and
virtual-machine specifications to support modular programming, at
both compile time and run time
Lead: Alex
Buckley
Links: JSR 294; mailing
list
JSR 308: Annotations on Java types
An extension to the Java annotation syntax to
permit annotations on any occurrence of a type
Lead: Michael Ernst;
team: Jonathan Gibbons
Milestone target: M4
JSR TBD: Small language enhancements (Project
Coin)
A set of small language changes intended to
simplify common, day-to-day programming tasks
Lead: Joe
Darcy
Links: project page; mailing
list
JSR TBD: Project Lambda
First-class functions, function types, and
lambda expressions (informally, "closures") for the Java
programming language
Links: project page;
mailing
list
Core
Modularization (Project Jigsaw)
An implementation-specific, simple, low-level
module system focused upon the goal of modularizing the JDK, and
the application of that system to the JDK itself
Upgrade class-loader architecture
Modifications to the ClassLoader API and
implementation to avoid deadlocks in non-hierarchical class-loader
topologies
Lead: Karen Kinnear
Links:
summary
Milestone target: M3
Method to close a URLClassLoader
A method that frees the underlying resources,
such as open files, held by a URLClassLoader
Lead: Michael McMahon
Milestone target: M2
Unicode 5.1
Upgrade the supported version of Unicode to
5.1
Lead: Yuka Kamiya
Milestone target: M3
Concurrency and collections updates
(jsr166y)
A lightweight fork/join framework, generalized
barriers and queues, a concurrent-reference HashMap, and fences to
control fine-grained read/write ordering
Lead: Doug
Lea
Milestone target: M5
JSR 203: More new I/O APIs for the Java platform
(NIO.2)
New APIs for filesystem access, scalable
asynchronous I/O operations, socket-channel binding and
configuration, and multicast datagrams
Lead: Alan
Bateman
Milestone target: M2
SCTP (Stream Control Transmission
Protocol)
An implementation-specific API for the Stream
Control Transmission Protocol on Solaris
Lead: Chris
Hegarty
Links: project page; mailing
list
Milestone target: M3
SDP (Sockets Direct Protocol)
Implementation-specific support for reliable,
high-performance network streams over Infiniband connections on
Solaris
Lead: Alan
Bateman
Milestone target: M3
Elliptic-curve cryptography (ECC)
A portable implementation of the standard
Elliptic Curve Cryptographic (ECC) algorithms, so that all Java
applications can use ECC out-of-the-box
Lead: Vincent Ryan
Milestone target: M5
Client
XRender pipeline for Java 2D
A new Java2D graphics pipeline based upon the
X11 XRender extension, which provides access to much of the
functionality of modern GPUs
Lead: Clemens Eisserer; team:
Dmitri Trembovetski
Forward-port 6u10 deployment features
Forward-port implementation-specific
deployment features from the 6u10 release: The new Java
Plug-In, Java Kernel, Quickstarter, and related installer
features
Lead: Andy Herrick
Milestone target: M4
Create new platform APIs for 6u10 graphics
features
Create new platform APIs for features
originally implemented in the 6u10 release: Translucent and
shaped windows, heavyweight/lightweight mixing, and the improved
AWT security warning
Lead: Anthony Petrov
Milestone target: M3
Nimbus look-and-feel for Swing
A next-generation cross-platform look-and-feel
for Swing
Lead: Jasper Potts; team: Richard Bair, Peter
Zhelezniakov
Links: project page
Milestone target: M3
Swing JLayer component
Add the SwingLabs JXLayer component decorator
to the platform
Lead: Alexander
Potochkin
Links: JXLayer project
Milestone target: M5
Web
Update the XML stack
Upgrade the JAXP, JAXB, and JAX-WS APIs to the
most recent stable versions
Milestone target: M5
Dropped
JSR 296: Swing application framework
An API to define the basic structure of a
typical Swing application, thereby eliminating lots of boilerplate
code and providing a much-improved initial developer
experience
Lead: Alexander
Potochkin
Links: JSR 296
Swing JDatePicker component
Add the SwingLabs JXDatePicker component to
the platform
Lead: Alexander
Potochkin
Links:
JXDatePicker api
Last update: 2010/2/9 13:31 -0800
