Oracle cites "strong backward compatibility of Java 7 SE" with previous versions of Java, adding that developers won't have to retool their skillsets.


There had been some concern that Oracle's leadership of Java would undermine the huge developer community that surrounds it. Oracle's lawsuit against Google over Android's use of Java has raised questions of what firms can or can't do with Java. However Al Hilwa, programme director for applications development software at IDC told V3, "The Java community should be much more relaxed about Oracle's stewardship [...] Some of the decisions to reverse the Java over-reach and unrealistic schedules from the Sun [Microsystems] days were hard to make, but I would say they are doing the right thing."



Oracle's decision to take small steps is probably wise as Java has such a large enterprise following. Oracle claims 97 per cent of enterprise desktops run Java and says the software framework has nine million developers worldwide, so baby steps are the order of the day.




<a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html" target="_blank" class="news_link">Java 7 SE is available for download now.</a>




<a href=http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2097921/oracle-releases-java-standard-edition" target="_blank" class="news_link">Source: The Inquirer</a>

Oracle releases Java 7 Standard Edition