I have just released Allegro OpenSource: Elasticsearch reindex tool
http://allegrotech.io/elasticsearch-reindex-tool.html

Changes in Java Specification between Java 7 and 8 - highlighted in the document

http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se8/jls8-diffs.pdf

How to switch between oracle java 7 and 8 on ubuntu

sudo update-java-alternatives -s java-7-oracle
sudo update-java-alternatives -s java-7-oracle

Read more here: http://www.webupd8.org/2012/09/install-oracle-java-8-in-ubuntu-via-ppa.html

Secure Random Generation in Java 8

Java has been under fire for several years for having security holes. Justified or not, a lot of work has been done to fortify the JVM and frameworks from possible attacks. Random numbers with a low-level of entropy make systems that use random number generators to create encryption keys or hash sensitive information more susceptible to hacking.

So far selection of the Random Number Generation algorithms has been left to the developer. The problem is that where implementations depend on specific hardware / OS / JVM, the desired algorithm may not be available. In such cases applications have a tendency to default to weaker generators, which can put them at greater risk of attack.

Java 8 has added a new method called SecureRandom.getInstanceStrong() whose aim is to have the JVM choose a secure provider for you. If you’re writing code without complete control of the OS / hardware / JVM on which it would run (which is very common when deploying to the cloud or PaaS), my suggestion is to give this approach some serious consideration.
See more here: http://www.infoq.com/articles/Java-8-Quiet-Features

HashMap performance improvements in Java 8

See description here: http://www.nurkiewicz.com/2014/04/hashmap-performance-improvements-in.html

StampedLock

Java 8 includes a new synchronization mechanism called StampedLock
Great article about it is here: http://www.javaspecialists.eu/archive/Issue215.html

Optional in guava

Optional is a way of replacing a nullable T reference with a non-null value. An Optional may either contain a non-null T reference (in which case we say the reference is "present"), or it may contain nothing (in which case we say the reference is "absent"). It is never said to "contain null."

Same concept Optional class is going to be added to the core java.util library in jdk8

More detalails here: https://code.google.com/p/guava-libraries/wiki/UsingAndAvoidingNullExplained

JDK 8 Developer Preview released

Finally we hava a JDK Milestone 8 version released with Project Lambda. More info here: http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jdk8/milestones#Developer_Preview

The target release date for Java 8 is now 2014/3/18

The target release date for Java 8 is now 2014/3/18.
Read more on: http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jdk8/

Java 8 delayed

We've got bad news for Java.
Mark Reinhold has posted a blog with a proposal to delay the release of Java 8 to the first quarter in 2014. http://mreinhold.org/blog/secure-the-train

JDK8 will be released at 9th September 2013

We will get Lambdas, new DataTime API, default implementations in the interfaces, static references to the methods, Stream interface with Map Reduce operations on Collections, removal of Permanent Generation in the Heap, repeating annotations, annotations on type use, Nashorn - new JavaScript engine and some smaller changes.
You can see examples here: https://github.com/awislowski/jdk8

StampedLock - new implementation for a lock

In java 8 we there will be a new implementation of Lock class. It will allow to have a lock for reading and writing. Possibly upgrading lock from read to write and some other features.
More to be read here: http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~chegar/8005697/ver.00/javadoc/StampedLock.html

JDK 8 Milestones

http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jdk8/milestones

Project Jigsaw deferred until Java 9

Project Jigsaw, java modularity is going to be deferred until Java 9. Java 8 release time is September 2013. There is still to much to do to make the deadline.
The goal is: A standard module system for the Java Platform will ease the construction, maintenance, and distribution of large applications, at last allowing developers to escape the “JAR hell” of the brittle and error-prone class-path mechanism.

Chief Java architect on his blog describes the situation: http://mreinhold.org/blog/late-for-the-train.

Project Jigsaw home page: http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jigsaw/