Project Lambda: Functional Programming Constructs and Simpler Concurrency in Java SE 8

The big language features for Java SE 8 are lambda expressions (closures) and default methods (formerly called defender methods or virtual extension methods). Adding lambda expressions to the language opens up a host of new expressive opportunities for applications and libraries. You might assume that lambda expressions are simply a more syntactically compact form of inner classes, but, in fact, the implementation of lambda expressions is substantially different and builds on the invokedynamic feature added in Java SE 7. This session will explain the ideas behind lambda expressions, how they will be used in Java SE 8 and look at some of the details of their implementation.


Author:
Simon Ritter
Simon Ritter is head of Java Technology Evangelism at Oracle Corporation. Simon has been in the IT business since 1984 and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Brunel University in the U.K.

Originally working in the area of UNIX development for AT&T UNIX System Labs and then Novell, Simon moved to Sun in 1996. At this time he started working with Java technology and has spent time working both in Java technology development and consultancy. Having moved to Oracle as part of the Sun acquisition he now focuses on the core Java platform and Java for client applications. He also continues to develop demonstrations that push the boundaries of Java for applications like gestural interfaces.

Follow him on Twitter, @speakjava and on his blog at http://blogs.oracle.com/speakjava.