5 major reasons to upgrade to J2SE 5 platform

Source: Internet
Author: User
Tags data structures
This article gives 5 reasons to upgrade to Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE Platform) 5.0. Each reason is validated by a large amount of data and references to the fact that upgrading to version 5.0 will significantly reduce development and operational costs.

J2SE 5.0 (code-named Project Tiger) was released at the end of September 2004. It is one of the major updates of the Java platform over the years. The Java Community cheers for its new features, yet these new features do not yet fully describe the features of this release. Compared with any previous version, this platform is more suitable for the development of mission-critical products, which can meet the high level of testing requirements.

There are so many improvements in J2SE 5.0 that it is not easy to choose the most important first 5 reasons. My choice is as follows:
1.1. Previous applications can run directly on 5.0

"To ensure backward height compatibility, the number of compatibility tests is twice times that in the 1.4 version ..."

?? Calvin Austin Sun Microsystems

Existing applications can be used directly in J2SE 5.0 without redesigning or recompiling. Not only are the investments of existing applications protected, but the application is actually using the new Java runtime and benefiting from it.

To ensure backward height compatibility, the number of compatibility tests is twice times that of the 1.4 version. These compatibility tests are just part of a Java test suite that contains nearly 200,000 tests, with many well-known Java products tested.

Now that the application can be run without modification, what J2SE 5.0 can offer you.
1.1.1. Improved performance

In J2SE 5.0, the performance of both client and server applications has been significantly improved, and due to the apparent performance improvements, I have listed it as a 2nd reason, which is detailed later.
1.1.2. Monitoring and manageability

J2SE 5.0 introduces an advanced monitoring and manageability framework and builds it on the Java platform's virtual machine (Java Virtual machine or JVM). You can use an existing management console with industry-standard JMX and SNMP protocols to monitor the JVM and even to detect low memory conditions. The JDK release provides a demo called Jconsole. You can use it to assess the benefits of monitoring the JVM to learn how to expand your usability metrics.
1.1.3. A new perception

The Java platform already contains an insert perception (look-and-feel) framework. The new ocean-style perception allows cross-platform applications to switch between the impressions of the ocean and the native operating system without rebuilding or recompiling.
1.2. Faster speed

As can be seen from the figure below, many factors have significantly improved the system speed of J2SE 5.0.

1.2.1. Shorten startup time

If you haven't started a Java desktop application in the last few years, you may have a surprise discovery. With the introduction of class data sharing (combined with other streamlined options), some applications have been shortened by nearly 30% start-up times.
1.2.2. Excellent 64-bit performance

J2SE 5.0 's 64-bit JVM can provide record results for Amd64/opteron CPUs and SuSE Linux Enterprise Edition 8.0. In addition, the 32-bit JRE version can be run concurrently with an existing 32-bit web browser under the same 164-bit operating system.
1.2.3. Performance improvement

The JVM now configures and optimizes itself on server-level machines. Server-level machines are machines that have at least 2GB of memory with two or more CPUs. Server-based performance improvements eliminate the memory and optimization classes that are required for long-running applications. The result is that you can increase the performance of the application-ordered server benchmark by 80% without changing a line of code or providing any run-time options.
1.3. Shorten development time

The integrated development Environment (IDE) eases the burden on developers by using automated builds and wizards to accomplish common tasks. The new language features of J2SE 5.0 further streamline the development process, whether you are using the IDE or manually encoding in a text editor.
1.3.1. Reduce the number of developer encodings

Many improvements in the Java language have reduced the number of people that developers must encode. The following figure is quantified for this reduction compared to the version of J2SE 1.4.2. As a practical example, an open source application server uses more than 2,000 iterators. By replacing it with the new loop improvement feature, the amount of coding can be reduced by as much as 40,000 characters. For developers, this is equivalent to saving two hours of manual coding effort (5 characters per second).

Figure 2: Reduced coding effort (fewer encoded lines)

The J2SE 5.0 platform adds metadata, generating boilerplate code and configuration information by using tools, which greatly reduces development time. In the context of the SOA and Web services defined by JSR 181, developers are expected to reduce their coding effort by generating common code automatically. [Note: the example shown above shows that Jax-RPC is reduced from 209 characters to 95 characters, using Generics's loop improvement from 139 characters to 100 characters, no generic loop improvement from 121 characters to 90 characters, and automatic boxing from 69 characters to 56 Character].

Metadata reduces the effort to write a deployment description file. It has been suggested that EJB 3.0 generate configuration information by default from the application itself, eliminating the need to deploy a description file.
1.3.2. Enhanced error-checking store

Using Google to search for "classcastexception" and "help" keywords will get 40,000 search results. The professional search on the Sun Forum reports 3,444 Developer cases, all of which are asking to help track unexplained run-time failures due to class conversion exceptions.

Of the 3,444 cases, 470 were related to the Pre-generics vector class. From an ROI perspective, any run-time error during the business peak may lose the company's site 10% order income (GBP 300 million if the revenue is GBP 3 billion). This has not yet counted other factors, such as human and goodwill.

As compile-time type-safe generic types are introduced to the Java platform, it is possible to reduce the risk of run-time errors by alerting developers to the existence of a type-matching problem during development. In the Forum's 470 cases, the vector and key class libraries in other JDK have been updated with the generics in J2SE 5.0 to avoid recurring run-time problems that cannot be explained.
1.4. Applicable to mission-critical systems

The 5.0 release provides enhanced scalability, quality, and deployment support.
1.4.1. Scalability

The Java platform is designed to make both clients and servers scalable. The 5.0 version introduces a powerful concurrency class library, making multithreaded programming simpler and more powerful than ever before. The Java platform also supports 64-bit and multi-core and Hyper-threading chip technology. The 64-bit JVM allows applications to use more than 4 GB of heap space and also allows integration with other 64-bit applications.
1.4.2. Quality

The J2SE 5.0 platform has been thoroughly tested in a broad set of system and operating system variants. Many popular application servers and client applications are used in the tests. The last Test standard?? Average failure stress test time?? Complete with no fault at all.
1.4.3. Deployment

It is difficult to determine the transaction throughput of a JVM product until J2SE 5.0. New analytics tools and automatic tuning capabilities provide better product rationalization and configuration. When the application is put into use, you can see the scope of the reduction through these features is amazing.

As highlighted in the previous 1th reason, in order to complete the deployment process, the JVM is now able to perform complete remote monitoring using industry-standard tools. This allows system administrators to successfully manage the JVM both in the cluster and in a traditional, vertically scalable environment. The health status and availability of the deployed applications can be monitored.

In addition to the 4 technical reasons that have been upgraded above, there is one last important reason.
1.5. You have chosen a good company

The improvement of J2SE 5.0 is due to the Java community. The J2SE 5.0 Expert group includes the following companies in the Java field: Apache,apple,bea Systems,borland,cisco Systems,fujitsu,hewlett-packard,ibm,macromedia, Nokia,oracle,sap,sas institute,savaje Technologies,sun Microsystems,john Zukowski,osvaldo Doederlein and Juergen Kreileder.

A total of 16 working groups are made up of eminent Java domain experts. They have organized 160 of experts around the world to work together, eventually forming the J2SE 5.0 Java specification. The specification overrides the update from the language to the Concurrent class library to the class compression file API. For more technical details, please refer to J2SE 5.0 in a nutshell. Reference books on the sidebar of this page are also available, and such reference books are increasing.
1.5.1. Books on J2SE 5.0

L Java 5.0 tiger:a Developer ' s notebook. David Flanagan, Brett McLaughlin. O ' Reilly & Associates, 2004.

L Java 2 v5.0 (Tiger) New Features. Herbert Schildt. Mcgraw-hill Osborne Media, 2004.

L beginning Java 2, JDK 5 Edition. Ivor Horton. Wiley, 2004.

L Core Java 2, Volume I, II (7th Ed.). Cay Horstmann, Gary Cornell. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005.

L Just Java 2 (6th Ed.). Peter van der Linden. Prentice Hall, 2004.

L a Introduction to programming and object-oriented design Using Java 2, 2nd Ed. Jaime Niño, Frederick A. Hosch. Wiley 2005

L The Java Class libraries Poster:java 2 Platform Standard Edition 5.0 (8th Ed.). Patrick Chan, Rosanna Lee. Addison-wesley Professional, 2005.

L Objects, abstraction, Data structures and design Using Java Version 5.0. Elliot Koffman, Paul Wolfgang. Wiley, 2004.


1.6. Concluding remarks

This article lists 5 important reasons why I use Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE Platform) 5.0. (This article does not cover all functions on the client or server side). All information about the platform, from spec to source, can be obtained from the SCSL and Java library, which helps you make your own decisions. Please contact us through the Community forum and let us share your views on the J2SE 5.0 version.

The following tools and applications leverage the J2SE 5.0 enhancements to improve developer productivity.

L NEW J2SE 5.0 enhanced tools and applications

L Java System Application Server 9

L NetBeans 4.0

L Eclipse 3.x

L Borland JBuilder 2005-wily Introscope

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