Stay Ahead in 2023: Latest Java Technologies You Need to Know

Prateek vox
May 2, 2023
4 min read

Java has been around for more than 20 years and is a powerful programming language. It is frequently used for creating a variety of applications, from web-based workplace applications to mobile apps. In order to meet the changing demands of the software development industry, new tools and technologies are continually being developed within the Java ecosystem. We'll talk about the most recent Java technologies in this blog post, which you should know by 2023.

Introduction To Latest Java Technologies

For many years, one of the most used programming languages has been Java. New technologies and frameworks arise to address the changing needs of developers as the software development industry develops. In order to stay competitive and deliver high-quality software, developers must stay current with the Latest Java Technologies.

Latest Java Versions

The most recent Java version, Java 17, was published in September 2021. The new features and improvements in Java 17 include things like sealed classes, pattern matching, and switch expressions. Updates to the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and new APIs are also included. Performance, security, and productivity can all be enhanced by updating to the most recent Java version.

Coming to some unique features which are already mentioned above:

Sealed Classes : Java 15 added the ability for developers to limit the inheritance of a class hierarchy through the use of sealed classes. The security, maintainability, and expressiveness of Java programming are all expected to be enhanced by this feature.In conventional Java, independent of its package or module, every class can inherit from any other class. Because of this, developers have no control over how their classes are extended or altered, which may result in security flaws or unexpected behavior. Developers cannot stop other developers from extending or altering sensitive classes they have created, for instance.

By enabling programmers to specify a list of approved subclasses for a class or interface, sealed classes offer a solution to this issue. The term "permitted subclasses" or "sealed subclasses" refers to this group. Only the approved subclasses are allowed to extend or implement a sealed class once it has been defined. The sealed class cannot be extended or implemented in any other way without producing a compilation fault.Let’s try to understand this concept using an example of a sealed class named Shape.

Below is the code given to implement a sealed class:

Code to declare a sealed abstract class named Shape

In this example, the 'Shape' class is declared as sealed and abstract, and the allowable subclasses are 'Circle', 'Rectangle', and 'Triangle'. Only these three classes have the ability to extend the 'Shape' class.

The 'non-sealed' modifier is used in conjunction with the class declaration to declare a permissible subclass. As an example:

Code to declare non-sealed class Circle that can be inherited from Shape class

The 'Circle' class is declared non-sealed and final in this example, which means it cannot be extended by any other class. It is, however, a valid subclass of the 'Shape' class.

Pattern Matching: Pattern matching is a new Java 16 feature that allows developers to extract and alter data from objects using succinct and expressive syntax. This feature simplifies code, enhances readability, and lowers the risk of errors in data extraction code.The fundamental idea behind pattern matching is to provide a method for matching and extracting values from objects based on their structure. In traditional Java code, for example, a developer might use conditional statements and type casting to extract the value of a field from an object. Pattern matching offers a more concise solution by combining these processes into a single statement.The pattern matching functionality compares a pattern to an object and extracts data from the object if the patterns match. A pattern is a description of an object's structure presented in a syntax comparable to variable declaration. Patterns can be used to match objects based on their type, values, or structure.

Switch-Expressions: Switch expressions are a Java 12 feature that provide an upgraded version of the classic switch statement. The switch expression can be used as either a statement or an expression, resulting in more compact and versatile code. Traditionally, the switch statement in Java allowed for the evaluation of a single expression, followed by the execution of a block of code dependent on the value of that expression. Switch expressions provide a more flexible syntax that can be used as an expression with multiple values or even ranges of values.

Frameworks

A well-liked Java framework for creating web apps and microservices is called Spring Boot. It has a number of features including auto-configuration, embedded web servers, and support for the Spring Cloud that make it simple to develop and deploy applications.

Another contemporary Java framework made for creating serverless and microservices applications is called Micronaut. It is lightweight and quick because of features like ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation and GraalVM support.

A cloud-native Java framework called Quarkus is made for creating applications that are small, quick, and effective. It has capabilities including support for Kubernetes and GraalVM, reactive programming, and live coding.

Libraries

A well-known Java object-relational mapping (ORM) library is Hibernate. It has various capabilities, including caching, lazy loading, and transaction management, and enables developers to map Java classes to database columns.

A reactive programming package called Reactor is used to create asynchronous, event-driven applications. It has various components, including Mono and Flux, which are used to manage data streams.

A metrics gathering library called Micrometre is used to create monitoring systems. It supports a number of monitoring platforms, including Prometheus, Grafana, and InfluxDB.

Other Tools

The most recent version of the well-known Java unit testing framework is called JUnit 5. It has a number of new capabilities, including dynamic tests, parameterized tests, and nested tests.

A tool for managing database schema updates is called Flyway. It has a number of features including recurring migrations, various database support, and version control.

A little Java package called Testcontainers offers disposable containers for integration testing. It provides support for a number of container platforms, including Docker and Kubernetes, and enables developers to execute tests in a closed environment.

Conclusion

Powerful programming language Java has undergone substantial development over time. To remain competitive in the software development market, developers must keep up with the most recent Java tools and technology. We covered a number of the most recent Java tools, including Java 17, Spring Boot, Micronaut, Hibernate, JUnit 5, and more, in this blog post.