JDT Core/Java8

Java™ 8 support for Eclipse is ready, see JDT/Eclipse Java 8 Support For Kepler. This page summarizes the work that was done.

Eclipse Support for Java 8 - Release Schedule

• Feb 21st 2014: Early Access Release IV: Release candidate 1
  • What is new in this release ?
    • JDT/Core and JDT/APT are already feature complete - This is a bug fix release with numerous defects resolved

• March 7th 2014 : Release candidate 2
  • Bug fixes

• March 18th 2014: General availability release (Available - See below for install instructions)

Installation instructions

Starting with I20140318-0830 all our Luna (4.4) builds contain the Eclipse support for Java™ 8. For Kepler SR2 (4.3.2) a feature patch is available. For details go to our downloads page.

Java 8 features ready to be tested (save for some very minor defects)

• JSR 308 - Type Annotations
• Default & static methods in interfaces
• Support for lambda expressions and method/constructor references is substantially in place except in the areas of type inference, lambda serialization and varargs.
• Support for Java 8 type inference specification.
• Quick assist support for migrating anonymous classes to lambda expressions and vice versa.
• Meta data enhancement specification:
  • JEP120: Repeating annotations
  • JEP118: Runtime access to parameter names
• JSR269 Enhancements for Pluggable Annotation Processor API and javax.lang.model APIs
• Formatter, code completion, code navigation, search & indexing, reconciler, incremental builder support for all of Java 8
• Basic IDE enablement for all of Java 8
• AST/APIs for all of Java 8
• Serializable lambda support
• JSR308 type annotations based null analysis (substantially complete - some open issues exist)
• UI: Basic infrastructure like the Java-related views, Java Compiler compliance settings, Organize Imports, Mark Occurrences, Open Declaration (F3), Edit > Expand Selection To > ..., Content Assist (Ctrl+Space), Formatting, and Source Actions should work correctly in most situations when you start using them with Java 8 constructs.

How to report defects ?

File defect reports [here].
Open work items can be perused [here].

IMPORTANT NOTE

• The following lines must be added in all headers of modified files for Java™ 8 implementation:

 * This is an implementation of an early-draft specification developed under the Java
 * Community Process (JCP) and is made available for testing and evaluation purposes
 * only. The code is not compatible with any specification of the JCP.
 *

• Use the following @since tag on all newly added members: "3.9 BETA_JAVA8"

What to do to set up the IDE

• You need to install a JDK 8 build as an installed JRE in order to compile org.eclipse.jdt.annotation and run the tests using the JavaSE-1.8 Execution Environment.
  • Use the exact name "JavaSE-1.8" for the JRE

• Checkout the BETA_JAVA8 branch of the following git repositories:
  • JDT Core repository - git://git.eclipse.org/gitroot/jdt/eclipse.jdt.core.git
  • JDT UI repository - git://git.eclipse.org/gitroot/jdt/eclipse.jdt.ui.git
  • JDT Debug repository - git://git.eclipse.org/gitroot/jdt/eclipse.jdt.debug.git
  • Equinox OSGi repository: git://git.eclipse.org/gitroot/equinox/rt.equinox.framework.git
  • For tests:
    • Releng repository - git://git.eclipse.org/gitroot/platform/eclipse.platform.releng.git
    • Text repository - git://git.eclipse.org/gitroot/platform/eclipse.platform.text.git

• For more information on how to work with git repositories, look at http://wiki.eclipse.org/Platform-releng/Git_Workflows .

• Set R4.3.1 as Target Platform.
• Set R4.3.1 as API Baseline.

• If you are going to be running Ant builds (stand-alone or as project builders) using the 1.8 javac target, you should read the following wiki: Ant / Java 8.

Disclaimer

This is a work in progress. The contents of the BETA_JAVA8 branch will be updated as the changes are made to the JSR Specification. Please use the early access builds only in a test/evaluation mode and not in the real development environment. If you need any help with this, please contact the JDT/Core team through either the forum or Bugzilla.