JavaOne — J2SE 5.0 (Tiger), J2SE 6.0 (Mustang), and J2SE 7.0 (Dolphin)

The ongoing JavaOne
 conference always brings a lot of news and shows where the 
 Java platform is heading.

Tiger — J2SE 5.0 and later versions

One of the first things Ed Ort discussed in Looking into the Tiger’s eye
 was Java’s near future. We learned that Java 1.5, code-named Tiger, would no longer
 use the traditional 1.x version numbering and would be called 5.0 instead.

Tiger includes almost 100 new features through Java Specification Requests, along with many other
 changes. It’s the biggest change since version 1.0, which is why new numbering was chosen.
 The final J2SE 5.0 release is planned for 30 September 2004.

The forthcoming J2EE 1.5 will follow the new numbering, so it will be 5.0, and is planned for the second half of 
 2005. Later versions will be numbered 6.0 and 7.0. Their code names and planned release dates 
 are already known.

Tiger will be followed by Mustang, J2SE 6.0, in early 2006, and then by Dolphin, 
 J2SE 7.0, in the second half of 2007. Versions 6.0 and 7.0 are expected to continue the trend toward
 easier development. Other features are expected to include direct support for XML, web services,
 monitoring, and management.

Other topics in the talk
 included J2ME and especially desktop development, where Java is advancing by leaps and bounds.

Sources

• 2004 JavaOne conference
• Press release SUN INTRODUCES MOST SIGNIFICANT AND ADVANCED JAVA PLATFORM RELEASE IN FIVE YEARS