Introducing the Modular JDK

In the previous two chapters, you've learnt about the modular API in Java 9 and how to create your own custom modules. There's much more to Java 9 modules than that! The introduction of modularity in Java is not just a new feature for developers to use; it has resulted in major changes to the Java platform itself. In fact, Java 9 also has had perhaps the biggest overhaul of the internal Java codebase ever. Java 9 not only comes with the ability for developers to create their own modules, the whole Java platform itself has been modularized. In this chapter, let's examine these important changes, both to learn what the changes are, and to understand why they came about. Now that you have warmed up to Java modules by writing modules yourself, it's time to put our thinking caps on and really understand the problems and the requirements...