Java 8: The Fundamentals

by Dane Cameron

Get up and running with the most significant Java release in years.Java 8 has the potential to fundamentally change the way you write Java code. This book is intended to teach existing Java programmers and software engineers the fundamentals of these changes in a couple of afternoons, and leave you with a strong understanding of how you can incorporate these changes into your code.If you are new to Java and would like to learn Java from scratch - including Java 8 - you may want to search for "A Software Engineer Learns Java and Object Orientated Programming" instead.This book contains comprehensive information on all the main additions to the language in Java 8, Lambda expressions: no prior knowledge of lambda expressions are required, this book will walk you through all aspects of lambda expressions, from their construction to their use. The Streams API: the Streams API has the potential to revolutionize the way Java programmers think about processing sets of data. This book will walk you through a variety of use-cases with the Streams API, and look at how the Streams API can be used to perform parallel processing of data. Default methods: Java 8 makes significant changes to interfaces, allowing interfaces to contain implementation details. This change essentially brings a form of multiple-inheritance to Java, and allows legacy interfaces to be changed without breaking backwards compatibility. The Date/Time API: Java 8 introduces a whole new Date and Time API based on Joda-time. You will walk through many examples, and look at how the new API differs from the Date and Calendar API we are all familiar with. The Nashorn JavaScript engine: JavaScript is now officially part of Java with the inclusion of the Nashorn JavaScript engine. The book will walk through a variety of examples with Nashorn, and look at why you may want to run JavaScript code on the Java Runtime. In addition, many other minor features will be introduced along the way.To celebrate the inclusion of a JavaScript engine in Java, this book also contains a bonus chapter teaching Java programmers how to use JavaScript - the right way. This is intended to get Java programmers and software engineers up and running with JavaScript, and avoid the frustrations that many Java programmers encounter when confronted with JavaScript.

193 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2014

About the author

DANE CAMERON is an author and software engineer living in Wellington, New Zealand. He has
worked professionally as a software engineer for many years, developing large-scale enterprise
systems, and for the last five years has specialized in the development of HTML5 web applications.

Dane has a double major in Computer Science and English Literature from the University of Otago.
A venn diagram of career prospects quickly identified technical writing as a likely option, and he
has built a career based around developing interesting software and passing on what he has learned
to others through his books.

Dane currently works in Wellington, New Zealand, and works as a solutions architect.

Reviews

[Marius Muntean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light reading on what's new and relevant in Java 8 including the long-awaited lambda expressions, the Steams API and, make sure you are sitting, multiple inheritance. dun dun duuun!Well, sort of, but I don't want to give anything more away.
There's no introduction to Java or programming in general but those things were never promised so you should already have those under your belt.

What I didn't like is that the book is too short. Or rather I should say that the parts that interested me are too short. That's because the last 30% of the book are dedicate to teaching you (the Java Developer) JavaScript development. Surprising right? Nevertheless I understand why the author did this but I think she chose so in detriment of the reader's experience.

Concluding, you should definitely pick up this book, even only as an appetizer for Java 8. Amazon has it for under 4,-€ or for free if you're an Amazon Prime subscriber.

[Stijn · Rating 3 out of 5]

All you need to know to start using lambdas/streams and other Java 8 goodies (at some point Java will find its way to awesomeness at which point I'd propose to just call it Lisp).

[Martin Asenov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light read, yet provides very good overview of the new stuff in java 8. The style of the author is very engaging.

[Bill Heitzeg · Rating 5 out of 5]

easy to read with great examples

A really well written and well thought out book. I only a few days I greatly improved my Java 8 skills