1. Overview

This book is a short introduction to Java 8. After reading it, you should have a basic understanding of the new features and be ready to start using it.

This book assumes that you have a good understanding of Java the language and the JVM. If you’re not familiar with the language, including features of Java 7, it might be hard to follow some of the examples.

Java 8 includes the following:

  • Lambda expressions
  • Method references
  • Default Methods (Defender methods)
  • A new Stream API.
  • Optional
  • A new Date/Time API.
  • Nashorn, the new JavaScript engine
  • Removal of the Permanent Generation
  • and more…

The best way to read this book is with a Java 8 supporting IDE running so you can try out the new features.

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2. Lambda Expressions