Notable Differences Between Java 7 and Java 8 You Didn’t Know

Filed in Articles by on April 23, 2021

Difference Between Java 7 and Java 8: Programming languages are formal languages made up of sets of instructions used in computer programming to produce various kinds of output.

10 Major Differences Between Java 7 and Java 8

Java 7 and Java 8 were both revolutionary releases by Oracle Corporation that changed the world of computer programming. In this article, the differences between are clearly highlighted.

Java 7 and its Features

The launch of Java SE 7 was an affirmation of Oracle’s commitment to the language and technology. It was a big achievement for the tech giant’s two-year ownership of Sun Microsystems – the company that created the Java programming language.

The final acquisition was completed by Oracle Corporation on Jan 27, 2010. The American technology giant hosted a global event to celebrate the launch of Java Standard Edition 7.

Sun Microsystems is now a fully owned subsidiary of Oracle Corporation and with the acquisition, the American tech giant also owns MySQL, Solaris, and the Sunline of server, storage, and network hardware.

Java 7 was a big achievement for Oracle after the acquisition and a major upgrade for Java in five years which almost took the company to a whole new level. This new version has addressed many trends that literally swept over the programming language.

The Java 7 release was solid which offers some major upgrades including major bug fixes and improved support for non-Java dynamic languages, plus type interference support for generic class creation.

Major Characteristic Features of Java 7 include

  • Compressed 64-bit pointers.
  • Upgraded class-loader architecture.
  • Multiple exception handling.
  • JVM support for dynamically support languages.
  • Upgraded Rowset 1.1 and JDBC 4.1.
  • String object in switch statement.
  • Automatic resource management in a try statement and much more.

Java 8 and its Features

On the release of Java 8 in March 2014, Lambda Expressions was the most anticipated feature. However, Lambda Expressions was introduced. The use of these Lambda Expressions made Java closer to functional programming which it was not used to be.

It introduced the lambda expression by which you can write code in a more functional style. It is useful in the iteration, filtering, and extracting of data.

Method reference is a new term introduced in Java 8 to refer to the method of the functional interface. It is interrelated to the lambda expression.

Each library function is new in Java 8 and it has made life easy for the developers to iterate elements easily and quickly. A new Date and Time API has been introduced in Java 8. A new class named Optional has been included to deal with NullPointerException.

Some major features that were initially planned for Java SE 7 were featured on Java 8. More so, the lambda expressions are by far the biggest update to the model which is likely to increase productivity in many business models.

Major Features of Java 8 Include:

  • Language-level support for Lambda Expressions
  • Interface default and Static Methods
  • Unsigned Integer Arithmetic
  • Concurrent API enhancements
  • New Date and Time API
  • Parallel Sorting
  • Null Reference Template
  • New JavaScript Engine, Nashorn
  • New and improved Stream API
  • Removal of permanent generation

Difference between Java 7 and Java 8

1. The codenamed for Java 7 is Dolphin while Code name for Java 8 is Spider.

2. Java 7 was the first and the major update to the programming language under the ownership and stewardship of Oracle Corporation.

3. Java 7 added a language support for String in switch so users can rewrite codes more efficiently and easily.

4. The Java 7 is supported on Win XP. However, Java 8 is not officially supported on Win XP.

5. Java 7 was released on Jan 27, 2010 while Java 8 was released on March 18, 2014.

6. Java 8 also gets a new and improved Date/Time API, enhanced JavaScript engine, new streaming API. Concurrent accumulators, secure random generation, and much more.

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CSN Team.

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