Java SE 8 for the Really Impatient

Eagerly anticipated by millions of programmers, Java SE 8 is the most important Java update in many years. Now, internationally renowned Java expert Cay S. Horstmann (“Core Java”) concisely introduces Java 8’s most valuable new features (plus a few Java 7 innovations that haven’t gotten the attention they deserve). If you’re an experienced Java programmer, Horstmann’s practical insights and sample code will help you quickly take advantage of these and other Java language and platform improvements:

• Using Lambda expressions (closures) to write computation “snippets” that can be passed to common utility functions, making Java collections far more flexible
• Major updates to concurrent programming that make use of lambda expressions (filter/map/reduce) and improve Java’s fork-join framework
• The long-awaited introduction of a well-designed date/time/calendar library (JSR 310)
• Annotations on Java types to support useful pluggable type checkers and refine Java’s built-in type system
• Java/JavaScript integration via Project Nashorn
• Transition to the JavaFX API as the official way to build media-rich, highly interactive client-side Java applications
• Simpler tuning of HotSpot JVM garbage collection

The first book to cover all these highly-anticipated improvements, Cay Horstmann’s Java SE 8 for the Really Impatient will be indispensable to everyone who wants to write tomorrow’s most robust, efficient, and secure Java code.

• Coverage of using lambda expressions (closures) to write computation "snippets" that can be passed to utility functions
• The brand-new streams API that makes Java collections far more flexible and efficient
• Major updates to concurrent programming that make use of lambda expressions (filter/map/reduce) and that provide dramatic performance improvements for shared counters and hash tables
• A full chapter with advice on how you can put lambda expressions to work in your own programs
• Coverage of the long-awaited introduction of a well-designed date/time/calendar library (JSR 310)
• A concise introduction to JavaFX, which is positioned to replace Swing GUIs, and to the Nashorn Javascript engine
• A thorough discussion of many small library changes that make Java programming more productive and enjoyable

About the Author xv

Chapter 1: Lambda Expressions 1

1.1 Why Lambdas? 2

1.2 The Syntax of Lambda Expressions 4

1.3 Functional Interfaces 6

1.4 Method References 8

1.5 Constructor References 9

1.6 Variable Scope 10

1.7 Default Methods 14

1.8 Static Methods in Interfaces 16

Exercises 18

Chapter 2: The Stream API 21

2.1 From Iteration to Stream Operations 22

2.2 Stream Creation 24

2.3 The filter, map, and flatMap Methods 25

2.4 Extracting Substreams and Combining Streams 26

2.5 Stateful Transformations 27

2.6 Simple Reductions 28

2.7 The Optional Type 29

2.8 Reduction Operations 31

2.9 Collecting Results 33

2.10 Collecting into Maps 34

2.11 Grouping and Partitioning 36

2.12 Primitive Type Streams 39

2.13 Parallel Streams 40

2.14 Functional Interfaces 42

Exercises 44

Chapter 3: Programming with Lambdas 47

3.1 Deferred Execution 48

3.2 Parameters of Lambda Expressions 49

3.3 Choosing a Functional Interface 50

3.4 Returning Functions 53

3.5 Composition 54

3.6 Laziness 56

3.7 Parallelizing Operations 57

3.8 Dealing with Exceptions 58

3.9 Lambdas and Generics 61

3.10 Monadic Operations 63

Exercises 64

Chapter 4: JavaFX 69

4.1 A Brief History of Java GUI Programming 70

4.2 Hello, JavaFX! 71

4.3 Event Handling 72

4.4 JavaFX Properties 73

4.5 Bindings 75

4.6 Layout 80

4.7 FXML 86

4.8 CSS 90

4.9 Animations and Special Effects 91

4.10 Fancy Controls 94

Exercises 97

Chapter 5: The New Date and Time API 101

5.1 The Time Line 102

5.2 Local Dates 104

5.3 Date Adjusters 107

5.4 Local Time 108

5.5 Zoned Time 109

5.6 Formatting and Parsing 112

5.7 Interoperating with Legacy Code 115

Exercises 116

Chapter 6: Concurrency Enhancements 119

6.1 Atomic Values 120

6.2 ConcurrentHashMap Improvements 123

6.3 Parallel Array Operations 128

6.4 Completable Futures 130

Exercises 134

Chapter 7: The Nashorn Javascript Engine 137

7.1 Running Nashorn from the Command Line 138

7.2 Running Nashorn from Java 139

7.3 Invoking Methods 140

7.4 Constructing Objects 141

7.5 Strings 142

7.6 Numbers 143

7.7 Working with Arrays 144

7.8 Lists and Maps 145

7.9 Lambdas 146

7.10 Extending Java Classes and Implementing Java Interfaces 146

7.11 Exceptions 148

7.12 Shell Scripting 148

7.13 Nashorn and JavaFX 152

Exercises 154

Chapter 8: Miscellaneous Goodies 157

8.1 Strings 158

8.2 Number Classes 158

8.3 New Mathematical Functions 159

8.4 Collections 160

8.5 Working with Files 163

8.6 Annotations 167

8.7 Miscellaneous Minor Changes 171

Exercises 174

Chapter 9: Java 7 Features That You May Have Missed 179

9.1 Exception Handling Changes 180

9.2 Working with Files 183

9.3 Implementing the equals, hashCode, and compareTo Methods 188

9.4 Security Requirements 190

9.5 Miscellaneous Changes 193

Exercises 196

Index 199