Recommended Features for Intro to CS

Important Updates for Intro to Computer Science from Java 8 to 24

When I was a classroom teacher, I received an email from a former AP CSA student. They wanted to let me know they were doing well in college and that they were top of their class since they were more prepared than any of the other students who hadn't taken any computer science courses. I love these types of emails as they remind me of the impact I can have on a student's future, often extending well beyond their time in my classroom. But, what really stands out to me, was that this students let me know that he had to show his teacher about the "new" feature of enhanced-for loops. It wasn't really new. His college instructor didn't know enhanced-for loops existed. Needless to say, this professor lost credibility with this student that day.

In March 2025, Java 24 was released. Java 8 was released ten years earlier in 2014. Sure, there is a lot of introductory material in Java 8 that is the same as in Java 23. The way we declare variables with a type, the way for loops, while loops, and if..else statements are written, the way a class is created and objects instantiated, the way we work with arrays and ArrayList, and the list goes on. So other than to save face with students, like the example above, why do we need more than Java 8 anyway? When I was the course lead for AP CSA, this was the question I wrestled with most.

Since being at Oracle for almost a year, I finally understand the answer to this question and would like to offer some advice as to what features should be considered. To that end I have written an educator brief where I have curated a list of features from Java 8 - 24 that I feel like are relevant to incorporate into Introductory Computer Science courses. These features are not just important to educate students in modern Java, but they are the key features that professional developers are using in their jobs every day.

It would be unrealistic to expect introductory computer science to completely redesign their courses all at once. As a former teacher, I understand how a change like that would effect programs and degrees for students, not to mention how much work and time it would take to re-write an entire course. However, there are some features that could be incorporated to modernize introductory courses that may still be on an earlier version of Java, such as Java 8. The features that are topping the list as important for intro to computer science and the ones most used by today’s Java developers are:

• Lambda
• Records
• Patterns
• var
• Enhanced switch expressions

The way that Java programs are written is evolving. The release of these features makes Java programs more readable than in earlier versions. Together they enable programmers to write data-oriented programs in Java. Instead of using a class to represent immutable data, data can be treated as data by using records instead.

These features and data-oriented programming is becoming increasingly more important for students to understand and acquire prior to entering the workforce. Exposing students to these features can increase engagement, increase understanding by working with more readable program code, make your courses more relevant, and prepare students for potential future jobs.