10 Things You Need to Know About Java 8 Adoption
Java 8 Is Here
More than one-fifth of Java 8 adopters are running the latest release, with more than 35% running it in staging environments and planning to shift to production soon. Another 40% are running Java 8 in pilot projects or are testing it.
The Challenge: Legacy Architecture
Of the Java 8 holdouts, 69% are running Java 7 and 26% are running Java 6. The main challenge to migrating to the latest release is the past. 37% cited “hurdles with legacy infrastructure” as the reason for their reticence.
Other Challenges
19% of respondents cited organizational obstacles to implementing Java 8. Only 19% were concerned with Java 8 features.
New Lambdas Popular
80% of respondents say Lambda expressions and virtual extension models are the most important new Java 8 features, while 47% say enhanced core libraries with Lambda are the most important new feature.
Other Popular New Features
date and time APIs (37%), bulk data operations for collections (37%), currency updates (27%)
How They’re Using New Java 8 Features
45% use Lambda features in Java 8, 51% are exploring them, 47% are using functional programming, 49% are exploring functional programming
Java 9 Plans
Developers are already planning for Java 9. Nearly 30% of respondents look forward to it with “strong interest.”
Most Anticipated Features
48% of respondents say they are most excited about Value Types, and 43% are most interested in Project Jigsaw.
Exploring Containers
Nearly two thirds of the developers surveyed are exploring containers, but less than 25% use Docker today.
Developers and Big Data
More than 50% of respondents have big data strategies, or are exploring them for their organizations. 17% are already using Apache Spark.
