Oracle releases long-awaited Java SE 7 update

Oracle has released the first Java Standard Edition (SE) update for public download after five years of development.

Unveiled earlier this month, Java SE 7 is the first to support multi-core processors and dynamically typed programming languages. The release also brings updates for the sound and 2D graphics engines.

Oracle described the release as an evolutionary update that will serve as a foundation for the larger Java 8 release planned in 2012. The company also cited its work with third-party developers through the OpenJDK and Java Community Process.

"I'm pleased that the Java community has come together in favour of technical progress and that we have a clear path forward for Java SE 8," said Oracle Fusion Middleware and Java products senior vice president Hasan Rizvi.

"Oracle has a strong vested interest in the success of the Java platform and is firmly committed to delivering a consistent, high-performance, high-quality Java SE implementation, and will be supporting the Java SE 7 release across the Oracle Fusion Middleware product portfolio."

Industry analysts, meanwhile, suggested that the release symbolises a cooling of tensions between the Java developer community and Sun Microsystems, which was acquired by Oracle in 2009.

Al Hilwa, programme director for applications development software at IDC, told V3 that Sun had become mired in squabbles over the Java Community Process and the platform had suffered as a result.

"The Java community should be much more relaxed about Oracle's stewardship," he said.

"Some of the decisions to reverse the Java over-reach and unrealistic schedules from the Sun days were hard to make, but I would say they are doing the right thing."