In the process of erecting a new building, a set of blueprints helps all related parties communicate--the architect, electricians, carpenters, plumbers, and so on. It details things such as shapes, sizes, and materials. Without them, each of the subcontractors would be left guessing as to what to do, where to do it, and how. Without these blueprints, modern architecture would be almost impossible.

What is in your hands--or on the screen in front of you--is a set of blueprints of a different sort. Rather than detailing exactly how to build your specific software system, as each project and environment has unique constraints and requirements, these blueprints offer examples of how to build a variety of Java-based systems, providing examples of how to use specific features in the Java Development Kit, or JDK, with a special focus on the new features of Java 9 that you can then apply to your specific problem.

Since it would be impossible to build an application using only the new Java 9 features, we will also be using and highlighting many of the newest features in the JDK. Before we get too far into what that entails, then, let's take a brief moment to discuss some of these great new features from recent major JDK releases. Hopefully, most Java shops are already on Java 7, so we'll focus on version 8 and, of course, version 9.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics: