In Java 8, the following new features were added:
Lambda Expressions − lambda expression is a function that can be referenced and passed around as an object
Method References − Method references are the references that use a function as a parameter to request a method.
Optional − This class is to provide a type-level solution for representing optional values instead of using null references.
Functional Interface – An Interface that contains exactly one abstract method and implementation can be provided using a Lambda Expression
Default methods − give us the ability to add full implementations in interfaces besides abstract methods
Stream API − Stream API provides a functional approach to processing collections of objects.
Date and Time API − an improved, immutable JodaTime-inspired Date API
Nashorn, JavaScript Engine − Java-based engine for executing and evaluating JavaScript code
Along with these new features, lots of feature enhancements are done under-the-hood, at both compiler and JVM levels.
