New Features in Java 8/ JDK

New Features in Java

There are lots of features added to java 8, but overall java 8 is filled gaps in java 7

Core Java Features

Lambda Expressions and Virtual Extension Methods
Autoconf-Based Build System
Lambda-Form Representation for Method Handles
Compact Profiles
Prepare for Modularization
 

VM Features

vm/-- Reduce Cache Contention on Specified Fields
vm/comp Compiler Control
vm/gc Remove the Permanent Generation
G1 GC: Reduce need for full GCs
 

vm/rt Enhanced Verification Errors
Improve Contended Locking
Reduce Class Metadata Footprint
Small VM
Fence Intrinsics
 

core/-- 

Launch JavaFX Applications
core/lang Generalized Target-Type Inference
104 Annotations on Java Types
105 DocTree API
106 Add Javadoc to javax.tools
117 Remove the Annotation-Processing Tool (apt)
118 Access to Parameter Names at Runtime
120 Repeating Annotations
139 Enhance javac to Improve Build Speed
172 DocLint
core/libs 103 Parallel Array Sorting
107 Bulk Data Operations for Collections
108 Collections Enhancements from Third-Party Libraries
109 Enhance Core Libraries with Lambda
112 Charset Implementation Improvements
119 javax.lang.model Implementation Backed by Core Reflection
135 Base64 Encoding and Decoding
149 Reduce Core-Library Memory Usage
150 JSR 310: Date and Time API
155 Concurrency Updates (jsr166e)
170 JDBC 4.2
core/i18n 127 Improve Locale Data Packaging and Adopt Unicode CLDR Data
128 BCP 47 Locale Matching
133 Unicode 6.2
core/net 110 New HTTP Client
core/sec 113 MS-SFU Kerberos 5 Extensions
114 TLS Server Name Indication (SNI) Extension
115 AEAD CipherSuites
121 Stronger Algorithms for Password-Based Encryption
123 Configurable Secure Random-Number Generation
124 Enhance the Certificate Revocation-Checking API
129 NSA Suite B Cryptographic Algorithms
130 SHA-224 Message Digests
131 PKCS#11 Crypto Provider for 64-bit Windows
140 Limited doPrivileged
166 Overhaul JKS-JCEKS-PKCS12 Keystores