Java SE 11 (18.9) ( JSR 384)
Early Draft Review Specification
Iris Clark & Brian Goetz
2018/2/21 19:49 -0800 [19b41339b6a9]

This Specification defines version 11 of the Java Platform, Standard Edition.

Contents
1Summary
2Structure
3Definitions
4Component JSR Specifications
5Feature summary
6Feature details
7Modules
8APIs removed
9APIs proposed for removal
Annexes
A1Complete API Specification
A2API Specification differences
A3Java Language & Virtual Machine Specifications
1
Summary  

This release continues the evolution of the Platform to ensure the broadest possible success of the core Java technology. It substantially streamlines the footprint of the Platform by removing enterprise APIs, and improves the expressiveness of Java class files.

2
Structure  

This document directly specifies API features, enhancements, clarifications, and bug fixes. It also specifies features by reference to other Specifications which are revised in Maintenance Releases of existing JSRs. The specifications of these changes are contained in two accompanying documents: Annex 1 is the complete Java SE 11 API Specification and Annex 2 is an annotated API specification showing the exact differences relative to Java SE 10. Informative background for these changes may be found in the list of approved Change Specification Requests for this release.

This Specification includes the Java SE 11 Editions of The Java Language Specification and The Java Virtual Machine Specification in Annex 3. The Java SE 11 Editions contain all corrections and clarifications made since the Java SE 10 Editions, as well as additions for new features.

The Final Release of this Specification is expected to include all of the currently described features and updates; however, further changes may be forthcoming. For example, the Expert Group could determine that a feature is not yet be ready for standardization.

3
Definitions  

Changes to the Java SE Platform Specification are categorized as either features or enhancements. A feature is, roughly speaking, a change of which at least one of the following statements is true:

Any addition that is not a feature is considered an enhancement.

There is, obviously, room for judgment when interpreting this definition. In order to maximize the visibility of Platform revisions we generally tend to consider borderline items to be features rather than enhancements.

4
Component JSR Specifications  

Some Component JSR Specifications previously incorporated into the Platform are still available separately or have significant Specifications themselves. Changes to their Specifications are therefore made in separate Maintenance Releases. The following existing component JSRs may have Maintenance Releases. These will be incorporated by reference before the Final Release of this Specification as necessary:

JSR 199: Java Compiler API
JSR 114: JDBC Rowset Implementations
JSR 221: JDBC API
JSR 269: Pluggable Annotation-Processing API

The javax.transaction.xa package of the following existing component JSR is subsumed by this Specification:

JSR 907: Java Transaction API (JTA)  [MR 6]

Each Component JSR Specification, or revision thereto, may be related to one or more features in the detailed list below.

5
Feature summary  
Virtual MachineDynamic Class-File Constants
LanguageLocal-Variable Syntax for Lambda Parameters
LibrariesRemove the Java EE and CORBA Modules
6
Feature details  

Work on features in the Java SE 11 Reference Implementation, which is the Java Development Kit, version 11 (JDK 11), is organized in terms of JDK Enhancement Proposals (JEPs). Each feature description includes a link to the corresponding JEP document as a convenience, but that document is not a normative part of this Specification.

Virtual Machine
Dynamic Class-File Constants

Extend the Java class-file format to support a new constant-pool form, CONSTANT_Dynamic. Loading a CONSTANT_Dynamic will delegate creation to a bootstrap method, just as linking an invokedynamic call site delegates linkage to a bootstrap method.

Language
Local-Variable Syntax for Lambda Parameters

Allow var to be used when declaring the formal parameters of implicitly typed lambda expressions.

Libraries
Remove the Java EE and CORBA Modules

Remove the Java EE and CORBA modules from the Java SE Platform and the JDK. These modules were deprecated in Java SE 9 with the declared intent to remove them in a future release.

7
Modules  

This Specification modifies the modular structure of the Java SE Platform via JEP 320 as listed in the “APIs removed” section. There are now 19 Java SE modules:

java.base
java.compiler
java.datatransfer
java.desktop
java.instrument
java.logging
java.management
java.management.rmi
java.naming
java.prefs
java.rmi
java.scripting
java.se (aggregator)
java.security.jgss
java.security.sasl
java.sql
java.sql.rowset
java.xml
java.xml.crypto

The module graph The Java SE modules depend upon each other as stated in their specifications, which are part of the overall API Specification. The corresponding complete Java SE module graph has too many edges to be displayed easily in visual form; here is the transitive reduction of the directed acyclic graph, in which redundant edges are omitted (click to enlarge):

java.se Spec Module Graph

Here is how to read this visualization of the module graph:

This Specification incorporates the following subsections by reference from Java SE 9 Platform Specification (JSR 379), “Modules”:

8
APIs removed  

Following the conventions established by the Enhanced Deprecation feature, various APIs were annotated with forRemoval=true in the “APIs Proposed for Removal” section of the Java SE 9 Platform Specification and the Java SE 10 Platform Specification.

The following individual APIs are removed from this Specification. They have all been deprecated since at least Java SE 1.4 and have been superseded by newer APIs.

Classes

Seven modules that were proposed for removal by the Java SE 9 and 10 Platform Specifications are removed from this Specification. More information about these modules and their APIs is available in JEP 320. Standalone versions of the APIs and their implementations are readily available.

9
APIs proposed for removal  

The following APIs were proposed for removal by the Java SE 9 or 10 Platform Specifications, and continue to be eligible for removal in a future release. They are not removed from this Specification.

Packages 

Interfaces 

Classes 

Exceptions 

Fields 

Methods 

Additional details about deprecations, including potential alternatives, may be found in the Deprecated API list of the API Specification. Migration away from deprecated APIs is strongly encouraged.