New Java 12 Features Enhancements
One of the most striking highlights in the IT industry is the popularity of many programming languages. Java is one of the most popular programming languages, but it hasn’t lost its reputation. Java is just as popular today as it was 23-years ago when it was first introduced. The Java Development Kit (JDK 12), the latest Java release, was released recently. We’ll be discussing Java 12 features in this discussion.
Presently, the interest in Java 12 features is exploding. Java has been releasing Java SE 9+ every six months since its major release. This is a clear indication that Java SE 9+’s programming language and virtual machines are undergoing faster improvements to keep up with rapid technological innovation.
What’s new in Java 12 Features
Each new Java version, from Java SE 9 to the latest Java 12, has new features. We will not be able to cover all the changes in Java 12 without going through the whole bundle. These can include library additions, modifications to the JDK clean up process, and new language features. The following discussion will highlight the many new features available with Java 12.
New additions
The support for Unicode 11 is the first entry in the list of Java 12 new features. Support for Unicode 11.0.0 has been made easy with the new Java 12 release. Java 11 features also included Unicode 10.0.0 support. Java 12 now supports Unicode 11.0.0 features.
These new features include 684 characters, 11 blocks and seven scripts. The 684 new characters include 66 emoji characters, a Copyleft symbol, and additional characters. Other characters include half stars for rating systems and Xiangqi Chinese chess symbol, as well as additional astrological symbols.
Seven new scripts are included in Java 12’s new features, including Old Sogdian and Medefaidrin, Hanifi Rahingya, Medefaidrins, Hanifi Rohingyas, Dogra, Makassar and Gunjala Gondi. Seven blocks from Java 12 are suitable for these new scripts. The remaining four blocks can be used for existing scripts. The existing scripts include Chess Symbols and Georgian Extended, Indic SIYAQ Numbers, Mayan Numerals, and Indic Siyaq Numericals.
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Shenandoah
The next addition to the Java 12 Java 12 downloads are the low-pause-time garbage collector, Shenandoah. This new garbage collection algorithm (GC) is experimental. Shenandoah is perfect for applications that require higher responsiveness and greater predictability of short pauses. Shenandoah, one of the striking new Java 12 features, can improve the performance and usability of programs.
This algorithm can allow programs to run with the available memory. Shenandoah can also be used to optimize programs to avoid interruptions when running programs that last more than a few seconds. The Shenandoah algorithm supports garbage collection pause-time through the implementation of evacuation work in unison to running Java threads. Shenandoah facilitates the trading of concurrent CPU cycles and space to introduce pause time improvements.
The pause times are not dependent on heap size. This enables consistent pause-times. Oracle clarifies that the new algorithm is not intended to address all JVM pause problems. The Shenandoah algorithm does not apply to JVM pause problems that arise due to inflation monitoring or Time to Safe Point (TTSP).
Garbage Collector Updates
Another thing you might stumble upon when searching for Java 12’s latest features is the improvements made to G1. Java 12 has two new updates to the G1 garbage collector. The first update is called “Abortable mixed collections for G1”. This update is intended to ensure that mixed collections of G1 are abortable if they exceed the pause limit. G1 currently implements an engine that identifies the amount of work required to complete a collection.
After determining the collection area and starting the collection, G1 must collect all living objects in the collection areas without interruptions. The garbage collector may exceed its pause limit. This issue can be solved by the Java 12 update to Abortable Mixed Collects for G1.
The next update is “Promptly return unused committed memory from G1”. The G1 update improves garbage collector performance by returning unused committed memories.
G1 tries to avoid full GCs and triggers concurrent cycles based upon Java heap occupancy and allocation activity. G1 would not return Java heap memory in many cases, even if there was no ext.