A change to Java’s G1 garbage collector would lower the memory and processing overhead and speed the execution of Java’s C2 optimizing JIT (just-in-time) compiler, benefiting cloud deployments, under a proposal in the Java community. The OpenJDK proposal would simplify the implementation of G1’s barriers, which record information about application memory accesses, by shifting their expansion from early in the C2 JIT's compilation pipeline to later, the proposal states. Underlying this proposal is the increasing popularity of cloud-based Java deployments, which has led to a stronger focus on re ..read more

JetBrains has added full-line code autocompletion to its family of IDEs (integrated development environments), powered by locally run AI models. Full line code complеtion is available for Java, Kotlin, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS, PHP, Go, and Ruby with the 2024.1 versions of the respective IDEs. To read this article in full, please click here ..read more

Java Development Kit (JDK) 23, the next planned version of standard Java, is off and running, with two features now scheduled for the release. Due September 19, JDK 23 has just added a second preview of a class-file API, providing a standard API for parsing, generating, and transforming Java class files. This feature was previously previewed in JDK 22, which was released on March 19. Previously slotted for JDK 23 was a preview of primitive types in patterns, instanceof, and switch. To read this article in full, please click here ..read more

JetBrains’ IntelliJ IDEA 2024.1, a release of the integrated development environment (IDE) due on April 4, will feature an optional K2 compiler mode, enabling developers to use K2 for faster and more robust Kotlin code analysis, the company said. With this planned release, the IDE for Kotlin and Java will have two modes. The class mode, enabled by default, will use the standard K1 Kotlin compiler to analyze Kotlin code. The K2 mode will use the new K2 compiler as its code analysis engine. The K2 mode now is in an alpha state. The company made the announcement in a March 25 blog post. To read t ..read more

With atomic clock-like regularity, the latest version of Java, JDK 22, was released last week. Although this is not a long-term support (LTS) release, there is nothing to stop you from using it in production, and it contains some interesting new features. Let’s dive in and see what this brings us. New features for the Java platform are defined through JDK Enhancement Proposals (JEPs), and JDK 22 contains 12 of these. Coincidentally, over the last 13 Java releases, since the switch to a six-month cadence, the average number of JEPs (to the nearest integer) is also 12. You could, therefore, desc ..read more

Oracle has released GraalVM for JDK 22, an update to the Java runtime with ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation that brings support for Java 22 features. Released on the same day as Java 22, which was published March 19, GraalVM for JDK 22 can be downloaded from the project website. Most features of JDK 22 are available for Graal JIT compilation and Native Image AOT compilation. Java 22 features supported in both Graal JIT and Native Image include string templates, the class-file API, unnamed variables and patterns, structured concurrency, and scoped values. To read this article in full, please cli ..read more

Java Development Kit (JDK) 22, released by Oracle March 19 as the latest version of standard Java, offers a number of security enhancements, covering areas ranging from an asymmetric key interface to a new security option for -XshowSettings that allows developers to easily display security-related settings. In a March 20 blog post on Oracle’s inside.java web page, Sean Mullan, technical lead of the Java Security libraries team and lead of the OpenJDK Security Group, detailed the security enhancements in JDK 22. To read this article in full, please click here ..read more

Java has made some big shifts over the past few years, as seemingly disparate forces converged to make the platform easier to use. New features like auto-compile and the var keyword lower the bar for using Java, for beginners and veterans alike. Let's take a look at what's cooking in this new, friendlier Java. var Perhaps the most astounding thing about modern Java, at least for long-timers, is the presence of var support. One of Java’s defining characteristics is that it is strongly typed, but var loosens that a bit. Within a method, you can now define a reference using va ..read more

Python has its largest lead ever in Tiobe’s monthly index of programming language popularity, having jumped ahead of second-place C language by nearly 4.5 percentage points. Published yesterday, the Tiobe Programming Community Index of language popularity for March 2024 saw Python once again leading the index that C and Java once dominated. Python first topped the Tiobe index in October 2021. Elsewhere in the index, Scratch re-entered the top 10 and Rust climbed to 17th. Rust was 19th one year ago. To read this article in full, please click here ..read more

Most respondents to a recent survey on Java productivity said their companies plan to add Java developers this year, while a bit less than half plan to increase their Java tool budget. These findings were included the 2024 Java Productivity Report from development tools provider Perforce Software, released March 5. Overall, the survey found that investments in Java tools and talent were on the rise. Sixty percent of respondents said their companies planned to add Java developers this year and only 13% said their companies did not (27% were unsure). Developer tool budgets look to be holding ste ..read more