Java Development Kit 8, also known as JDK 8, is based on Java Standard Edition 8 and was supposed to be released in the 3rd quarter of 2013. However, it was pushed back to have more focus on its security issues. In September 2013, a blog posted by Mark Rheinhold, Oracle’s Chief Architect of the Java Platform Group announced that they released a preview build of JDK 8 for developers for initial testing. The main attraction of the release is the Project Lambda which will support programming on multicore processors. JDK 8 also offers other features such as new date and time API, compact profiles, and the Nashorn JavaScript engine according to Rheinhold.
Another update has been released regarding the development of JDK 8 last January 13, 2014 by Mathias Axelsson, Oracle JDK 8 Release Manager. According to his post on a Java mailing list, they will have the JDK 8 release candidate built before the January 23 deadline and have it shipped on March 18.
Axelsson said that they have been doing a lot of bug fixing to be able to have a release candidate on the last week of January. For JDK 8’s initial release, they are going to prioritize to fix the showstopper bugs. Non-showstopper bugs’ fixes will be postponed to keep track of its schedule. According to Axelsson, “We have a few fixes that are pending integration but overall things are looking very good and we’re on-track to have the release candidate built before the January 23 deadline.”
He also mentioned that they are making minor changes to the build promotion schedule as the deadline of final release candidate approaches. They will complete the promoted build on January 16 in accordance to the build schedule. Builds will be done on the request according to what fixes have gone in after January 16. “We’re making this adjustment to keep the turnaround time as short as possible if we have to take a fix and respin,” Axelsson added.