A new Java release every six months can be exciting, overwhelming, or both. Given that Java 17 is also an LTS release, it’s not just the developers but enterprises also noticing it. If you have been waiting to move on from Java 8 or 11, now is the time to weigh its advantages.
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Java 16 and IntelliJ IDEA
If you are still working with Java 8, you might have mixed feelings about the news of the release of Java 16. However, you’ll see these numbers are going to increment at a much faster and predictable rate with Java’s six-month release cadence.
I’m personally excited about Java 16! It adds Records and Pattern Matching for instanceof as standard language features with Sealed classes continuing to be a preview feature (in the second preview).
Fun fact – Records was voted the most popular Java 16 language feature by 1158 developers in this Twitter poll, with Pattern Matching for instanceof second.
In this blog post, I will limit coverage of Java 16 to its language features, why you need them, and how you can start using them in IntelliJ IDEA. You can use this link for a comprehensive list of the new Java 16 features. Let’s get started.