Since the award-winning classic was last updated in 2008, shortly after the release of Java 6, Java has changed dramatically. The most significant improvement in Java 8 was the addition of functional programming constructs to Java's object-oriented roots. Java 7, 8, and 9 also introduced language features such as the try-with-resources statement, the diamond operator for generic types, default and static methods in interfaces, the @SafeVarargs annotation, and modules. New library features include extensive use of functional interfaces and streams, the java.time package for manipulating dates and times, as well as numerous smaller enhancements like convenient factory methods for collections.

In this new edition of Effective Java, Bloch updates the work to leverage the new language and library features and provides specific best practices for their use. The increased support for multiple paradigms in Java raises the demand for best-practice advice, and this book delivers it.