These represent the major new features that have been added to the Java language and platform since the release of Java 11, up to and including Java 17.
Note
As well as the major, user-visible language upgrades, Java 17 contains many internal improvements (especially performance upgrades). However, this chapter focuses on the major features that we expect will change the way that you, the developer, write Java.
Since the very first version, Java 1.0, developers have been complaining about Java’s strings. Compared to other programming languages, such as Groovy or Scala or Kotlin, Java’s strings have sometimes seemed a little primitive.
Java has historically provided only one type of string—the straightforward, double-quoted string in which certain characters (notably " and \) must be escaped to be used safely. These have, under a surprisingly wide array of circumstances, led to the need to produce convoluted escaped strings, even for very common programming situations.