Book Image

Modular Programming in Java 9

By : Koushik Srinivas Kothagal
Book Image

Modular Programming in Java 9

By: Koushik Srinivas Kothagal

Overview of this book

The Java 9 module system is an important addition to the language that affects the way we design, write, and organize code and libraries in Java. It provides a new way to achieve maintainable code by the encapsulation of Java types, as well as a way to write better libraries that have clear interfaces. Effectively using the module system requires an understanding of how modules work and what the best practices of creating modules are. This book will give you step-by-step instructions to create new modules as well as migrate code from earlier versions of Java to the Java 9 module system. You'll be working on a fully modular sample application and add features to it as you learn about Java modules. You'll learn how to create module definitions, setup inter-module dependencies, and use the built-in modules from the modular JDK. You will also learn about module resolution and how to use jlink to generate custom runtime images. We will end our journey by taking a look at the road ahead. You will learn some powerful best practices that will help you as you start building modular applications. You will also learn how to upgrade an existing Java 8 codebase to Java 9, handle issues with libraries, and how to test Java 9 applications.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Title Page
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Customer Feedback
Preface

Chapter 8. Understanding Linking and Using jlink

In the previous chapters, we've learned about some advanced concepts relating to Java modularity, including handling readability and accessibility of module relationships, and the powerful concept of services. In this chapter, we'll move on to the final step in any application development--building and packaging your application.

Here's what you'll learn in this chapter:

  • You'll learn about the module resolution process, an important process that happens every time you compile or execute a modular Java application.
  • You'll be introduced to a new phase in the development process--linking. Linking, or static linking, is a new step in Java 9 modular development. It sits between the familiar compilation and execution phases that you should already be familiar with. In this chapter, you'll understand what linking is and the benefits of this step.
  • You'll learn how to use jlink, the new tool built into the platform to facilitate the linking phase and help...