Java leads by example regarding documentation: JavaDoc inspires trust in developers through its transparency on each Java API functionality, and the javadoc tool helps developers generate equally great documentation for their APIs and libraries.

In this episode, Ana hosts Jonathan Gibbons, core contributor and maintainer of JDK tools, to discuss JavaDoc/javadoc developments, focusing on markdown in JavaDoc documentation comments. Given the importance of having code that is as easy to understand as it is functional, Jonathan dives into significant changes in Java’s documentation component and associated tools, how JavaDoc is maintained, code documentation practices, and more.

In this shorter-format pod, Chad talks about JDK 24, preview features, and more.

Show Notes

JEP 11: Incubator Modules
https://openjdk.org/jeps/11

JEP 12: Preview Features
https://openjdk.org/jeps/12

Using the Preview Features Available in the JDK
https://dev.java/learn/new-features/using-preview/

JEP 483: Ahead-of-time Compilation
https://openjdk.org/jeps/483

JEP 485: Stream Gatherers
https://openjdk.org/jeps/485

JEP 491: Synchronize Virtual Threads without Pinning
https://openjdk.org/jeps/491

JEP 494: Module Import Declarations (Second Preview)
https://openjdk.org/jeps/494

JEP 495: Simple Source Files and Instance Main Methods (Fourth Preview)
https://openjdk.org/jeps/495

The Foreign Function and Memory API
https://dev.java/learn/ffm/

The Foreign Function and Memory API will be finalised in JDK 22. This API helps you integrate native code within your Java program. 

Using this new API you can efficiently invoke code outside the JVM, safely access memory not managed by the JVM, call native libraries and process native data without the brittleness and danger of JNI.

Jorn Vernee, core contributor and maintainer of the FFM API, is Ana’s guest during this episode. Jorn explains what is the Foreign Memory Access API, its goals and the iterations that this API went through. Jorn also shares a few examples of Java libraries that already adopted the FFM API, the performance improvements they observed. He also explains how you can use this new API to integrate a native library within your own Java code.