Java 8 vs Java 9

Updated March 6, 2023

Difference between Java 8 and Java 9

Java 8 vs Java 9 both are having complete new features and few feature-related updates, whereas Java 9 has excellent new and smart features that took Java to a new level. The JavaScript language support is the greatest feature in Java 9 compared to Java 8. Java 8 has different features such as Java Stream API, Java Time API, Java IO enhancements, Concurrency, Lambda Expressions, Functional Interfaces, and Collection API improvements. Java 9 has different features such as JShell (REPL), different Factory methods for the collections API, Module System and Reactive Streams API. In Java 8, default and static methods have been introduced in Interfaces.

What is Java?

Java is an Object-Oriented Programming that James Gosling designed. It was developed and is maintained by Oracle Corporation (then Sun Corporation). It is a general-purpose programming language that is class-based and having concurrent programming features. It has multi-threading features too. It is a static, safe, and strongly typed programming language. Its’ file extension names are .java or .class. It first appeared in the year 1995. It is intended to develop applications which can be Written Once and Run Anywhere. It is most popular for the client-server kind of application. It is licensed under GNU General Public License and Java Community Process. The latest version of Java is 8, was released on 14 January 2014 and Java 9 was released on 27 July 2017, and Java 10 was released in March 2018.

Head To Head Comparison Between Java 8 and Java 9 (Infographics)

Below is the top 9 difference between Java 8 vs Java 9 :

Key Differences between Java 8 and Java 9

Both Java 8 vs Java 9 are popular choices in the market; let us discuss some of the significant Difference :

1. Java 8 vs Java 9 are two different versions that come under Java programming language, where Java 9 supports scripting language alongside object-oriented programming language.
2. Java 8 has lambda functions and functional programming features, whereas Java 9 has different API updates along with new features.
3. Java 8 has updated with annotations support on Java Types and unsigned integer arithmetic whereas, in Java 9, lightweight JSON APIs exist for generating and consuming the JSON data streams in the form of documents.
4. Java 8 has JNI library updates and the Nashorn engine, which supports JavaScript compilation in JVM, whereas, in Java 9, HTTP 2.0 client was updated, which replaces the HttpUrlConnection is legacy.
5. Java 8 has the feature of launching JavaFX applications, whereas in Java 9 has performance updates to the segmented code cache mechanism.
6. Java 8 provides annotations support at the language level, whereas, in Java 9, a smart compiler feature exists, which can be sued to build larger projects.
7. Java 8 has provided an update that supports the environment to be run on the Windows XP operating system, whereas in Java 9
8. Java 8 has removed the permanent generation as per JEP 122 specification, whereas 9 has REPL feature for the purpose of scripting, which combines Java and REPL together as jshell.
9. Java 8 has Stream API and bulk operations related to collections, whereas Java 9 has less fragmentation and shorter sweep times along with further extensions.
10. Java 8 has Java Time API and Java IO improvements, whereas Java 9 has Money and Currency API updates.
11. Java 8 has other features, such as an extension to the Comparator interface, whereas Java 9 has improved Javadoc documentation and the Java platform module system.
12. Java 8 has removed the JDBC-ODBC bridge from its java support, whereas Java 9 has interactive REPL Jshell to explore API features and other new language features.
13. Java 8 has removed the PermGen memory feature, whereas Java 9 has collection factory methods to populate the collections or lists’ elements directly.
14. Java 8 has added few methods such as min(), max() and sum() in few wrapper classes such as Integer, Double and Long, whereas Java 9 has private interface methods where private methods were not allowed in interfaces before Java 9.

Java 8 vs Java 9 Comparison Table

Let’s look at the top Comparison between Java 8 vs Java 9

Conclusion

The choice of the Java version to be selected depends on the functionalities and features as required to make the application work efficiently by effectively making the trade-off choice. Java is mostly used. Recently, Java allows in providing an environment to run the JavaScript or scripting languages in its JRE environment in JDK 9.0 version onwards by providing a Nashorn JavaScript Engine. So Java can be considered for any kind of application requirement in the case of larger applications that need faster development scope and easier to develop complex services or applications where the case of optimization, messaging features and many other efficient techniques are available in the Java Enterprise environment.

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