Java version features & history
Java Version SE 8
Version Name: No specific code name (Name culture dropped and going forward no official code names)
Released on: 18 March 2014.
New features in Java SE 8 :
Java Version SE 7
Version Name: Dolphin
Released on: July 28, 2011.
New features in Java SE 7 :
Java Version SE 6
Version Name: MUSTANG
Released on: December 11, 2006.
New features in Java SE 6 :
J2SE Version 5.0
Version Name: Tiger
Released on: September 30, 2004.
New features in J2SE 5.0 :
J2SE Version 1.4
Version Name: Merlin
Released on: February 6, 2002.
New features in J2SE 1.4 :
J2SE Version 1.3
Version Name: Kestrel
Released on: May 8, 2000.
New features in J2SE 1.3 :
J2SE Version 1.2
Version Name: Playground
Released on: December 8, 1998.
New features in J2SE 1.2 :
JDK Version 1.1
Version Name:
Released on: February 19, 1997.
New features in JDK 1.1 :
JDK Version 1.0
it is released on January 23, 1996.
Named as "Oak"
Version Name: No specific code name (Name culture dropped and going forward no official code names)
Released on: 18 March 2014.
New features in Java SE 8 :
- Lambda Expressions
- Pipelines and Streams
- Date and Time API
- Default Methods
- Type Annotations
- Nashhorn JavaScript Engine
- Concurrent Accumulators
- Parallel operations
- PermGen Error Removed
- TLS SNI
Java Version SE 7
Version Name: Dolphin
Released on: July 28, 2011.
New features in Java SE 7 :
- Strings in switch Statement
- Type Inference for Generic Instance Creation
- Multiple EXCEPTION HANDLING
- Support for Dynamic Languages
- Try with RESOURCES
- Java nio Package
- BINARY Literals, underscore in literals
- Diamond Syntax
- Automatic null Handling
Java Version SE 6
Version Name: MUSTANG
Released on: December 11, 2006.
New features in Java SE 6 :
- Scripting Language Support
- JDBC 4.0 API
- Java Compiler API
- Pluggable Annotations
- Native PKI, Java GSS, Kerberos and LDAP support.
- Integrated Web Services.
- Many more features added.
J2SE Version 5.0
Version Name: Tiger
Released on: September 30, 2004.
New features in J2SE 5.0 :
- Generics
- Enhanced for Loop
- Autoboxing/Unboxing
- Typesafe Enums
- Varargs
- Static Import
- Metadata (Annotations)
- Instrumentation
J2SE Version 1.4
Version Name: Merlin
Released on: February 6, 2002.
New features in J2SE 1.4 :
- XML Processing
- Java Print Service
- Logging API
- Java Web Start
- JDBC 3.0 API
- Assertions
- Preferences API
- Chained Exception
- IPv6 Support
- Regular Expressions
- Image I/O API
J2SE Version 1.3
Version Name: Kestrel
Released on: May 8, 2000.
New features in J2SE 1.3 :
- Java Sound
- Jar Indexing
- A huge list of enhancements in almost all the java area.
J2SE Version 1.2
Version Name: Playground
Released on: December 8, 1998.
New features in J2SE 1.2 :
- Collections framework.
- Java String memory map for constants.
- Just In Time (JIT) compiler.
- Jar Signer for signing Java ARchive (JAR) files.
- Policy Tool for granting access to system resources.
- Java Foundation Classes (JFC) which consists of Swing 1.0, Drag and Drop, and Java 2D class libraries.
- Java Plug-in
- Scrollable result sets, BLOB, CLOB, batch update, user-defined types in JDBC.
JDK Version 1.1
Version Name:
Released on: February 19, 1997.
New features in JDK 1.1 :
- JDBC (Java Database Connectivity)
- Inner Classes
- Java Beans
- RMI (Remote Method Invocation)
- Reflection (introspection only)
JDK Version 1.0
it is released on January 23, 1996.
Named as "Oak"