The Java Tutorial Fifth Edition is now available on InformIT.

-- Sharon

An update of the Java Tutorial has gone live. This March 1st, 2013 edition of the tutorial contains early access information on some upcoming Java SE 8 features:

• Lambda expressions, a result of the work of Project Lambda, are a feature being added to the JDK 8 release of the Java platform. Lambda expressions support programming in a multicore environment by adding closures and related features to the Java language. An early access page on Lambda Expressions is part of this tutorial release. As part of this work, the information on Nested Classes, Anonymous Classes, and Local Classes have been updated and a new page on When to Use Nested Classes, Local Classes, Anonymous Classes, and Lambda Expressions has been added.
• The Annotations page has been moved and expanded to be a full Annotations lesson. The new lesson includes information on Java SE 8 features: Type Annotations, which can be used in conjunction with pluggable type systems for improved type checking, and Repeating Annotations.
• The lesson Service Providers for Internationalization includes the new section Installing a Custom Resource Bundle as an Extension, which shows you how to load resource bundles with service provider interfaces (SPIs). These interfaces enable you to create applications that you can extend, through plug-ins or modules, without modifying their original code base. See the new section Creating Extensible Applications for more information.

Note that this new material is currently available online only.

The JDK 7u11 release is now live.

Introduced in the 7u10 release, the slider in the Java Control Panel (JCP) is used for setting the security level of apps launched in the browser (via Java Plugin). With the 7u11 release, the default security level setting has been changed from Medium to High.

For more information:

• JDK 7u11 Release Notes
• Setting the Security Level of the Java Client (in the Java Guides)
• Java Control Panel (in the Java Guides)

Java Development Kit 7 Update 10 (JDK 7u10) release is now live!

You can download it from Java SE Downloads page.

The Java™ SE Development Kit 7, Update 10 Release Notes contains information about this release.

The highlights of this release include:

New Certified System Configurations - Mac OS X 10.8 and Windows 8

Security Feature Enhancements:

• The ability to disable any Java application from running in the browser. This mode can be set in the Java Control Panel or (on Microsoft Windows platform only) using a command-line install argument.
• New dialogs to warn you when the JRE is insecure (either expired or below the security baseline) and needs to be updated.

The documentation at Setting the Level of Security for the Java Client and Java Control Panel explains these features in detail.

The recent Java Mac OS X 2012-006 update from Apple removes the Apple Java 6 plug-in from your Mac. The Mac OS X Install FAQ will be updated with the next 7u release, but you may find the following information useful in the meantime.

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Q: I have installed Java for OS X 2012-006 and Apple Java 6 can no longer be used for applets or Web Start. How do I get it back?

A: The Java for OS X 2012-006 update from Apple uninstalls the Apple-provided Java applet plug-in from all web browsers. You can download the latest version of Java from Oracle, which has improved security, reliability and compatibility.

If you prefer to continue using Apple's Java 6 plug-in, you can follow the steps provided in How to re-enable the Apple-provided Java SE 6 applet plug-in and Web Start functionality.

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Q: After installing Java for OS X 2012-006, can I continue to use Apple's Java 6 alongside the OS X JDK or JRE for Java 7?

A: If you want to continue to develop with Java 6 in a Terminal window you can modify the startup script for your favorite command environment. For bash, use this:

export JAVA_HOME=`/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.6`

Some applications use /usr/bin/java to invoke Java. After installing Java for OS X 2012-006, /usr/bin/java will find the newest JDK installed, and will use that for all of the Java related command line tools in /usr/bin. You may need to modify those applications to find Java 6, or contact the developer for a newer version of the application.

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Also, this update removes Apple provided Java Preferences app. For more information on how to determine the default version of Java on your system, see Determining the Installed Version of the JRE in the JRE 7 Installation for Mac OS X page.

JavaFX 2.2.3 and JDK 7u9 were released today. In addition to the release documentation, the following new information is provided:

• Learn about some of the "behind the scenes" work for an application, such as threads, events, and binding with the new learning trail on the landing page.
• Learn how to use cell editors with the List View component. The new example in the UI Controls tutorial shows how to build a list of names by selecting them from a combo box.

Other documents were updated to reflect minor bug fixes.

You can download JavaFX 2.2.3 from OTN. For all tutorials and API documentation, see http://docs.oracle.com/javafx.

Other News:

JavaFX Scene Builder 1.1 Developer Preview was released during the week of JavaOne and is available from OTN. This version contains support for the Linux and Mac OS X 10.8 platforms, and a preview of the new CSS Analyzer feature. See the release notes for more information.

The Java Tutorials are a great resource to learn the Java language and prepare for the JDK 7 certification exams. The lesson titled Preparation for Java Programmer Language Certification simplifies the learning process by mapping the Java certification objectives to relevant sections in the Java Tutorials.

The JavaOne 2012 session titled Java Certifications: Learn, Pass, and Teach also provides more information.

- Sowmya

At JavaOne2012, Mark Biamonte of DataDirect Technologies and Lance Andersen of Oracle organized a discussion about JDBC.
To learn more about using JDBC to develop database applications, see the JDBC trail in the Java Tutorials.
You will know how to use the basic JDBC API to
* create tables
* insert values into them
* query the tables
* retrieve the results of the queries
* update the tables
In this process, you will learn how to use simple statements and prepared statements, and see an example of a stored procedure. You will also learn how to perform transactions and how to catch exceptions and warnings.

- Sowmya

At JavaOne 2012, Mohamed Taman of e-finance gave a presentation highlighting the power of NIO.2, the file I/O APIs introduced in JDK 7. He shared information on how to get the most out of NIO.2, gave tips on migrating your I/O code to NIO.2, and presented case studies.

The File I/O (featuring NIO.2) lesson in the Java Tutorials has extensive coverage of NIO.2 and includes the following topics:

• Managing Metadata
• Walking the File Tree
• Finding Files, including information on using PatternMatcher and globs.
• Watching a Directory for Changes
• Legacy File I/O Code includes information on migrating your code.

From the conference session page, you can watch the presentation or download the materials.

At JavaOne 2012, David Keenan and Staffan Friberg gave a presentation to answer why it is beneficial to update your production environment to Java SE 7. The following resources will help you learn more about JDK 7 features and facilitate a smooth transition:
* Features and Enhancements and Known Issues
* Compatibility with earlier releases
* JDK 7 and JRE 7 Certified System Configurations
* JDK 7 and JRE 7 Supported Locales
* JDK 7 Adoption Guide
* Information About 7 Update Releases

- Sowmya

At JavaOne 2012, Venkat Subramaniam of Agile Developer, Inc, presented a conference session titled "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of Java Generics." Dr Subramaniam discussed the use of generics, what to watch out for when using generics, and best practices.

To learn more about working with generics, see the Generics trail in the Java Tutorials. The trail was recently expanded and coverage added for the following topics:

• Generics, Inheritance, and Subtypes
• Guidelines for Wildcard Use
• Restrictions on Generics
• Wildcard Capture and Helper Methods
• Effects of Type Erasure and Bridge Methods

From the conference session page, you can watch the presentation.

Also at the JavaOne 2012 conference, Scott Kovatch presented a session on Deploying Your Application with OpenJDK 7 on Mac OS X. The session had special emphasis on how to deploy Java applications to the Mac App Store. Interested developers may find the following documentation useful: Packaging a Java App for Distribution on a Mac.

The Java Deployment on Mac OS X presentation, by Scott Kovatch and Chris Bensen, provided an overview of Oracle Java on the Mac. For more information on installing and using Oracle Java for the Mac, refer to the following documentation:

• Mac FAQ
• JDK 7 Installation for Mac OS X
• JRE 7 Installation for Mac OS X
• Mac OS X Platform Install FAQ
• Note for Users of Macs that Include Apple Java 6

From the Deploying Your Application with OpenJDK 7 on Mac OS X conference session page, you can watch the presentation or download the presentation slides.

From the Java Deployment on Mac OS X conference session page, you can watch the presentation.

At JavaOne 2012, Stuart Marks, Mike Duigou, and Joe Darcy gave a presentation about JDK 7 In Action. Learn more about using JDK 7 features with the help of Java Tutorials and JDK 7 Developer Guides. Links to relevant information are provided below.
If you are considering moving to JDK 7 from a previous release, the JDK 7 Release Notes and JDK 7 Adoption Guide are great resources.

Project Coin Features

Improved Literals

* Literals section in Primitive Datatypes topic.
* Binary Literals
* Underscores in Numeric Literals

Strings In Switch

* Strings In Switch

Diamond

* Type Inference for Generic Instance Creation
* Type Inference and Instantiation of Generic Classes

Multi-catch and Precise Throw

* Catching Multiple Exception Types and Rethrowing Exceptions with Improved Type Checking
* Catch Blocks

Try-with-resources

* The try-with-resources Statement

NIO.2 File System API

* File I/O for information on path, files, change notification, and more
* Zip File System Provider
* Zip File System Provider
* Developing a Custom File System Provider

Fork Join Framework

* Fork/Join


- Sowmya

The JavaFX documentation has been updated. A new learning trail is available on the landing page to help you manage the look and feel of your JavaFX application. Besides this addition, you can find the following changes:

• Deploying JavaFX Applications has been heavily revised to incorporate several new deployment features in JDK 7u6/JavaFX 2.2. See What's New for more information.
  
• Hybrid applications that use both SWT and JavaFX libraries can benefit from the improved packaging support available in JDK 7u6. For information about how to package SWT-JavaFX applications, see JavaFX Interoperability with SWT.
• Handling JavaFX Events has been updated with information on touch and gesture events. The Working with Events from Touch-Enabled Devices chapter and sample provide information on handling events from touch-enabled devices.
• The Deployment chapter in Getting Started with JavaFX introduces self-contained applications, which are explained in more detail in the Deployment Guide.
• Two chapters were added to Using JavaFX UI Controls to introduce the Color Picker and Pagination controls. The Color Picker chapter, provides the design overview of the control, and explains how to use it in JavaFX applications. The Pagination chapter teaches how to add a pagination control to your application, manage its page items, and style the elements of the control with CSS styles.
• Mastering FXML has been updated to include the following chapters:
  • What's New in JavaFX 2.2 - a list of FXML enhancements in JavaFX 2.2.
  • Creating a Custom Control - a tutorial that shows how to create a custom control using APIs introduced in JavaFX 2.2.
• JavaFX for Swing Developers has been updated to include the following chapter:
  • Implementing a Swing Application in JavaFX - a tutorial that shows how to implement a typical Swing application in JavaFXand provides the comparison of some standard implementation patterns in Swing and JavaFX
• Study Working with Canvas to learn about a new custom image that you can freely draw on. To use it, you simply obtain its GraphicsContext and invoke its methods to render the shapes. You can even use this component to define a simple layer system.
• Implementing JavaFX Best Practices points out some best coding practices as found in the Henley Sales application. The concepts translate to JavaFX programming in general, so users should keep these suggestions in mind when developing their own applications.
• Study the modified version of Adding HTML Content to learn how to manage web history in your JavaFX applications.

Our special announcements:

• JavaFX Scene Builder 1.0 is officially released! The Scene Builder documentation is available at docs.oracle.com/javafx. Find out more information about Scene Builder in the Overview document.
• Starting the 2.2 release of JavaFX, the API documentation is not bundled together with the JavaFX SDK. You can download it from the Documentation section of the Oracle Technology Network.

You can download JavaFX 2.2 from OTN. For all tutorials and API documentation, see http://docs.oracle.com/javafx.

The Java SE 7u6 release has gone live! You can download it from the Java SE Downloads page.

The Java™ SE Development Kit 7, Update 6 (JDK 7u6) Release Notes has detailed information about the release, but the highlights of this update include:

• The first full release of Oracle Java for Mac OS X. You may find the following documentation useful:
  • The JDK and JRE 7 Installation page has links to instructions on installing the JRE and the JDK for the Mac, including a FAQ, and a page with information on using the JRE on a Mac that also includes Apple Java.
  • Mac FAQ
  • If you are a Java developer, you might want to check out Packaging a Java App for Distribution on a Mac.
• The Java Access Bridge enables certain Java programs to be visible to assistive technologies on Microsoft Windows systems. For more information on how to enable and test Java Access Bridge, see the Java Accessibility Guide.