In the last chapter, we covered the recent changes to the Java platform with regards to variable handlers and how they related to the AtoMiC ToolKit. We also covered depreciation warnings and why they are suppressed under specific circumstances. Project Coin-related changes were explored as well as import statement processing, inferring local variables, and thread-local handshakes. We further explored changes to the Java language with a look at heap allocation, root certificates, dynamic class-file constants, and removal of the Java EE and CORBA modules.

In this chapter, we will examine the structure of a Java module as specified by Project Jigsaw. We will take a deep dive into how Project Jigsaw is implemented as part of the Java platform. We will also review key internal changes to the Java platform as they relate to the modular system.

We will look at the following topics:

• A modular primer
• The modular JDK
• Modular runtime images
• Module system
• Modular Java application packaging
• The Java Linker
• Encapsulating most internal APIs