Java SE 7... What's New? (Part 03/04)

I have provided some of the most important core language enhancements for JDK 7.0, along with code samples. The examples provided below can be directly pasted into your IDE and you may name the class as provided.

Strings in Switch Statement

You may use Strings in your switch statement, which is a powerful tool. The alternative would have been to use a series of if statements with .equals() comparison. You may directly execute the code below in Eclipse to understand better.

 public class jdk7_StringSwitch {  
      static String day = "SAT";  
     
      public static void main(String[] args) {  
           switch(day) {  
                case "MON": { System.out.println("Monday"); break; }  
                case "TUE": { System.out.println("Tuesday"); break; }  
                case "SUN": { System.out.println("Sunday"); break; }  
                case "SAT": { System.out.println("Saturday"); break; }  
           }  
      }  
 }  

Multiple Exception Handling 
Before JDK7, you would have to catch multiple exceptions in a block - with a catch block for each of the thrown checked exception. But sometimes you may want to take actions for many exceptions that are similar or same. Hence, the utility of this feature. You may directly execute the code below in Eclipse to understand better.

 public class jdk7_ExceptionHandling {  
      
      public static void main(String[] args) {  
           try {                 
                Integer value = Integer.parseInt("ABC");  
                File file = new File("exception.txt");  
                FileReader fileReader = new FileReader(file);                 
           } catch(NumberFormatException | FileNotFoundException foe) {  
                System.out.println("Multiple Exception Types");  
           }  
      }  
 }  

 

Try with Resources
You may use/create a resource withing the try block, from JDK7, and use it within the following block. This includes all objects/resources that implement the java.io.Closeable. Automatically on encountering the exception or if there is no exception, the close() method is guaranteed to be called by the runtime.

 public class jdk7_TryWithResources {  
  
      public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {            
           try(BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("file.txt"))) {  
                br.readLine();  
           } finally {  
                System.out.println("All Resources Closed.");  
           }  
      }  
 }  

Make sure that you have a file.txt in your classpath.
 

Diamond Syntax (Type Inference for Generics) 
Sometimes, in application when we are using generics we may end up with a long line of code, that may be very confusing or have poor readability. This is because there may be multiple generic types that are used in the same line. To improve upon this, JDK7 introduces the concept of diamond operator or diamond syntax, where the type of the generic variable is inferred.

 public class jdk7_DiamondSyntax {  
      public static void main(String[] args) {            
           Map<String, Map<String, List<String>>> list = new HashMap<>();  
           List<String> aList = new ArrayList<String>();  
           aList.add("09.10");  
           aList.add("09.20");  
           aList.add("09.22");  
           Map<String,List<String>> iMap = new HashMap<>();  
           iMap.put("radiac", aList);  
           list.put("radia", iMap);  
      }  
 }  

Binary Literals, Underscore in Literals 
Continuing on the aspects of readability for numeric literals, the concept of the underscore is provided to separate numeric literals like at thousands place, millions place, hundredths place, etc. Also, Binary Literals are allowed in JDK7 starting with 0b. All types of numeric literals will allow the use of '_'. You have to make sure that '_' is not used as the (before) first or (after) last digit of the numeric literal AND '_' is not  used adjacent to the decimal point AND '_' is not used before the F or the L suffix.

 public class jdk7_Literals {  
      int million = 100_000_000;  
      byte b = (byte) 0b0001111111;  
      short s = (short) 0b111100000000;   
      int i = 0b11111111111111111111;  
     
      public static void main(String[] args) {  
           
           jdk7_Literals l = new jdk7_Literals();  
           System.out.println(l.million);  
           System.out.println(l.b + ":" + l.s + ":" + l.i);  
      }  
 }  

Happy Times with JDK 7!