New Features in Java 7

Q: What are the new changes coming up in Java 7?
A:

1.       More predictable garbage collector. A new garbage collector that promises to achieve lower pause times and better predictability than the current CMS collector (VM-level feature)
2.       VM extensions to support the implementation of non-Java languages at performance levels near to that of the Java language itself
3.       Project Jigsaw – An implementation-specific, simple, low-level module system focused upon the goal of modularizing the JDK, and the application of that system to the JDK itself
4.       NIO2 - New APIs for filesystem access, scalable asynchronous I/O operations, socket-channel binding and configuration, and multicast datagrams. NIO2 uses operating system specific code to access files, directories and network resources, which leads to several speed improvements as well as extended capabilities which were not possible without NIO2. One of the notable improvements offered by NIO2 is the possibility of asynchronous access of (metadata) of files, enabling for example to execute code when a file is change without having to poll the file regularly for changes.
5.       Improved type inference for Generics, making it possible to write for example the following:
Map<String , List<String>> myMap = new HashMap<>();

http://www.wolkje.net/index.php/2009/03/25/java-7-new-coffee/
http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jdk7/features/
http://blogs.sun.com/mr/entry/jigsaw
http://tech.puredanger.com/java7/
http://tech.puredanger.com/2009/04/11/what-java-7-will-mean-to-you/