A First Look at Records in Java 14

19/1/23, 10:08 A First Look at Records in Java 14 - DZone
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A First Look at Records in Java 14

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Here's a first look engineering)
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by Mahmoud Anouti (/users/942829/mma113.html)  · Jan. 07, 20 · News
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Here's a first look at records in Java 14!
The upcoming release of Java will be version 14 scheduled to be in general availability in

March 2020. Similar to the already released versions under the new 6-month release
cycle, JDK 14 (https://openjdk.java.net/projects/jdk/14/) is expected to have several
new features at both the language and JVM levels.
If we look at the feature (/)list, however, (/REFCARDZ)

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highly anticipated by developers: records, switch expressions (which exist in JDK 13 but
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What Is a Record?
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A record
600 is basically
Park Offices Drive a “data class,” a special kind of class that is intended to hold pure
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data in it. The semantics of
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records already exist in similar constructs in other languages
such as data classes
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expressing their intention that the type represents only data. The syntax for declaring a
record is much simpler and concise, compared to using a normal class where you
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(often referred to as “boilerplate” code). Records seem to be an interesting choice when
modeling things like domain model classes (potentially to be persisted via ORM), or data
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transfer objects (DTOs). AnswerHub logo
A good way to think of how records are implemented in the language is to remember
enums. An enum is also a class that has special semantics with a nicer syntax. Since both
are still classes, many of the features available in classes are preserved, so there is a
balance between simplicity and flexibility in their design.
Records are a preview language feature, which means that, although it is fully
implemented, it is not yet standardized in the JDK and can only be used by activating a
flag. Preview language features can be updated or even removed in future versions.
Similar to switch expressions, it may become final and permanent in a future version.
A Record Example
Here’s an example of how a basic record looks like:
19/1/23, 10:08
p A First Look at Records in Java 14 - DZone
Java
1 package examples;
2
3 record Person (String firstName, String lastName) {}
We have a Person record defined in a package with two components: firstName and
lastName , and an empty body.
Let’s try to compile it — notice the --enable-preview option:
Shell
1 > javac --enable-preview --release 14 Person.java
2 Note: Person.java uses preview language features.
3 Note: Recompile with -Xlint:preview for details.
How Does it Look Under the Hood?

As mentioned previously, a record is just a class with the purpose of holding and
exposing data. Let’s have a look at the generated bytecode with the javap tool:
Shell
1 >javap -v -p Person.class
Plain Text
1 Classfile examples/Person.class
2 Last modified Dec 22, 2019; size 1273 bytes
3 SHA-256 checksum 6f1b325121ca32a0b6127180eff29dcac4834f9c138c9613c526a4202fef972f
4 Compiled from "Person.java"
5 final class examples.Person extends java.lang.Record
6 minor version: 65535
7 major version: 58
8 flags: (0x0030) ACC_FINAL, ACC_SUPER
9 this_class: #8 // examples/Person
10 super_class: #2 // java/lang/Record
11 interfaces: 0, fields: 2, methods: 6, attributes: 4
12 Constant pool:
13 #1 = Methodref #2.#3 // java/lang/Record."":()V
14 #2 = Class #4 // java/lang/Record
15 #3 = NameAndType #5:#6 // "":()V
16 #4 = Utf8 java/lang/Record
17 #5 = Utf8
18 #6 = Utf8 ()V
18 #6 Utf8 ()V
19 #7 = Fieldref #8.#9 // examples/Person.firstName:Ljava/lang/String;
20 #8 = Class #10 // examples/Person
21 #9 = NameAndType #11:#12 // firstName:Ljava/lang/String;
22 #10 = Utf8 examples/Person
23 #11 = Utf8 firstName
24 #12 = Utf8 Ljava/lang/String;
25 #13 = Fieldref #8.#14 // examples/Person.lastName:Ljava/lang/String;
26 #14 = NameAndType #15:#12 // lastName:Ljava/lang/String;
27 #15 = Utf8 lastName
28 #16 = Fieldref #8.#9 // examples/Person.firstName:Ljava/lang/String;
29 #17 = Fieldref #8.#14 // examples/Person.lastName:Ljava/lang/String;
30 #18 = InvokeDynamic #0:#19 // #0:toString:
(Lexamples/Person;)Ljava/lang/String;
31 #19 = NameAndType #20:#21 // toString:(Lexamples/Person;)Ljava/lang/String;
32 #20 = Utf8 toString
33 #21 = Utf8 (Lexamples/Person;)Ljava/lang/String;
34 #22 = InvokeDynamic #0:#23 // #0:hashCode:(Lexamples/Person;)I
35 #23 = NameAndType #24:#25 // hashCode:(Lexamples/Person;)I
36 #24 = Utf8 hashCode
37 #25 = Utf8 (Lexamples/Person;)I
38 #26 = InvokeDynamic #0:#27 // #0:equals:(Lexamples/Person;Ljava/lang/Object;)Z
39 #27 = NameAndType #28:#29 // equals:(Lexamples/Person;Ljava/lang/Object;)Z
40 #28 = Utf8 equals
41 #29 = Utf8 (Lexamples/Person;Ljava/lang/Object;)Z
42 #30 = Utf8 (Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/String;)V
43 #31 = Utf8 Code
44 #32 = Utf8 LineNumberTable
45 #33 = Utf8 MethodParameters
46 #34 = Utf8 ()Ljava/lang/String;
47 #35 = Utf8 ()I
48 #36 = Utf8 (Ljava/lang/Object;)Z
49 #37 = Utf8 SourceFile
50 #38 = Utf8 Person.java
51 #39 = Utf8 Record
52 #40 = Utf8 BootstrapMethods
53 #41 = MethodHandle 6:#42 // REF_invokeStatic
java/lang/runtime/ObjectMethods.bootstrap:
(Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup;Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/invoke/TypeDescriptor;Lj
ava/lang/Class;Ljava/lang/String;[Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandle;)Ljava/lang/Object;
54 #42 = Methodref #43.#44 // java/lang/runtime/ObjectMethods.bootstrap:
55 #43 = Class #45 // java/lang/runtime/ObjectMethods
56 #44 = NameAndType #46:#47 // bootstrap:
57 #45 = Utf8 java/lang/runtime/ObjectMethods
58 #46 = Utf8 bootstrap
59 #47 = Utf8
60 #48 = String #49 // firstName;lastName
60 #48 String #49 // firstName;lastName
61 #49 = Utf8 firstName;lastName
62 #50 = MethodHandle 1:#7 // REF_getField
examples/Person.firstName:Ljava/lang/String;
63 #51 = MethodHandle 1:#13 // REF_getField
examples/Person.lastName:Ljava/lang/String;
64 #52 = Utf8 InnerClasses
65 #53 = Class #54 // java/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup
66 #54 = Utf8 java/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup
67 #55 = Class #56 // java/lang/invoke/MethodHandles
68 #56 = Utf8 java/lang/invoke/MethodHandles
69 #57 = Utf8 Lookup
70 {
71 private final java.lang.String firstName;
72 descriptor: Ljava/lang/String;
73 flags: (0x0012) ACC_PRIVATE, ACC_FINAL
74
75 private final java.lang.String lastName;
77 flags: (0x0012) ACC_PRIVATE, ACC_FINAL
78
79 public examples.Person(java.lang.String, java.lang.String);
80 descriptor: (Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/String;)V
81 flags: (0x0001) ACC_PUBLIC
82 Code:
83 stack=2, locals=3, args_size=3
84 0: aload_0
85 1: invokespecial #1 // Method java/lang/Record."":()V
86 4: aload_0
87 5: aload_1
88 6: putfield #7 // Field firstName:Ljava/lang/String;
89 9: aload_0
90 10: aload_2
91 11: putfield #13 // Field lastName:Ljava/lang/String;
92 14: return
93 LineNumberTable:
94 line 3: 0
95 MethodParameters:
96 Name Flags
97 firstName
98 lastName
99
100 public java.lang.String toString();
101 descriptor: ()Ljava/lang/String;
103 Code:
105 0: aload_0
106 1: invokedynamic #18, 0 // InvokeDynamic #0:toString:
(Lexamples/Person;)Ljava/lang/String;
107 6: areturn
108 LineNumberTable:
109 line 3: 0
0 e 3: 0
110
111 public final int hashCode();
112 descriptor: ()I
113 flags: (0x0011) ACC_PUBLIC, ACC_FINAL
114 Code:
116 0: aload_0
117 1: invokedynamic #22, 0 // InvokeDynamic #0:hashCode:
(Lexamples/Person;)I
118 6: ireturn
120 line 3: 0
121
122 public final boolean equals(java.lang.Object);
123 descriptor: (Ljava/lang/Object;)Z
124 flags: (0x0011) ACC_PUBLIC, ACC_FINAL
125 Code:
127 0: aload_0
128 1: aload_1
129 2: invokedynamic #26, 0 // InvokeDynamic #0:equals:
(Lexamples/Person;Ljava/lang/Object;)Z
130 7: ireturn
132 line 3: 0
133
134 public java.lang.String firstName();
137 Code:
139 0: aload_0
140 1: getfield #16 // Field firstName:Ljava/lang/String;
141 4: areturn
143 line 3: 0
144
145 public java.lang.String lastName();
148 Code:
150 0: aload_0
151 1: getfield #17 // Field lastName:Ljava/lang/String;
152 4: areturn
154 line 3: 0
155 }
156 SourceFile: "Person.java"
157 Record:
158 java.lang.String firstName;
5 desc pto : ja a/ a g/St g;
160
161 java.lang.String lastName;
163
164 BootstrapMethods:
165 0: #41 REF_invokeStatic java/lang/runtime/ObjectMethods.bootstrap:
166 Method arguments:
167 #8 examples/Person
168 #48 firstName;lastName
169 #50 REF_getField examples/Person.firstName:Ljava/lang/String;
170 #51 REF_getField examples/Person.lastName:Ljava/lang/String;
171 InnerClasses:
172 public static final #57= #53 of #55; // Lookup=class
java/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup of class java/lang/invoke/MethodHandles
Interesting… Several things we can notice:
1. The class is marked final , which means we cannot create a subclass of it.
2. The class extends java.lang.Record , which is the base class for all records, much
like java.lang.Enum is the base class for all enums.
3. There are two private final fields named after the two components of the record:
firstName and lastName .
4. There is a public constructor that is generated for us: public

examples.Person(java.lang.String, java.lang.String) . By looking at its body,
it’s easy to see that it just assigns the two arguments to the two fields. The
constructor is equivalent to:
Java
1 public Person(String firstName, String lastName) {
2 this.firstName = firstName;
3 this.lastName = lastName;
4 }
5. There are two getter methods named firstName() and lastName() .

6. Three other methods are generated: toString() , hashCode() and equals() .
They all rely on invokedynamic to dynamically invoke the appropriate method
containing the implicit implementation. There is a bootstrap method
ObjectMethods.bootstrap that takes the component names of the record and its
getter methods and generates the methods Their behaviors is consistent with what
getter methods, and generates the methods. Their behaviors is consistent with what
we would expect to have:
Java
1 Person john = new Person("John", "Doe");
2 System.out.println(john.firstName()); // John
3 System.out.println(john.lastName()); // Doe
4 System.out.println(john); // Person[firstName=John, lastName=Doe]
5
6 Person jane = new Person("Jane", "Dae");
7 Person johnCopy = new Person("John", "Doe");
8
9 System.out.println(john.hashCode()); // 71819599
10 System.out.println(jane.hashCode()); // 71407578
11 System.out.println(johnCopy.hashCode()); // 71819599
12 System.out.println(john.equals(jane)); // false
13 System.out.println(john.equals(johnCopy)); // true
Adding Member Declarations in Records

We cannot add instance fields to records, which is expected, given that such state should
be part of the components. We can, however, add static fields:
Java
1 record Person (String firstName, String lastName) {
2 static int x;
3 }
We can define static methods and instance methods that can operate on the state of the
object:
Java
2 static int x;
3
4 public static void doX() {
5 x++;
6 }
7
8 public String getFullName() {
9 return firstName + " " + lastName;
10 }
11 }
We can also add constructors, and modify the canonical constructor (the one that takes
the two String parameters). If we want to override the canonical constructor, we can
omit the parameters and the assignments to the fields:
Java
2 public Person {
3 if(firstName == null || lastName == null) {
4 throw new IllegalArgumentException("firstName and lastName must not be null");
5 // We can also omit assigning fields, the compiler will auto-add them
6 }
7 }
8
9 public Person(String fullName) {
10 this(fullName.split(" ")[0], fullName.split(" ")[1]);
11 }
12 }
Conclusion
Records introduce the capability of properly implementing data classes, without the
need to write verbose code. Plain data classes are reduced from several lines of code to a
one-liner. There are other language features in progress that work well with records,
such as pattern matching. For a much deeper dive into records and background
information, see Brian Goetz’s exploratory document on OpenJDK
(https://cr.openjdk.java.net/~briangoetz/amber/datum.html).
Further Reading
Introducing Java Record (https://dzone.com/articles/introducing-java-record)
JDK 14: Records, Text Blocks, and More (https://dzone.com/articles/jdk-14-records-

text-blocks-and-more)
Record (Computer Science) Java (Programming Language)
Published at DZone with permission of Mahmoud Anouti, DZone MVB. See the original article here.
 (https://mahmoudanouti wordpress com/2019/12/22/a-first-look-at-records-in-java-14/)
 (https://mahmoudanouti.wordpress.com/2019/12/22/a first look at records in java 14/)
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19/1/23, 10:08 A First Look at Records in Java 14 - DZone

(/) REFCARDS (/REFCARDZ) 

Methodologies Engineering Architecture (/software- (/coding) Maintenance (/testing-

(/) REFCARDS (/REFCARDZ) 

Methodologies Engineering Architecture (/software- (/coding) Maintenance (/testing-

by Mahmoud Anouti (/users/942829/mma113.html)  · Jan. 07, 20 · News

 Like (19)  Comment (0)  Save  Tweet  Share  53.98K Views

Here's a first look at records in Java 14!

The upcoming release of Java will be version 14 scheduled to be in general availability in

If we look at the feature (/)list, however, (/REFCARDZ)

Let’s try to compile it — notice the --enable-preview option:

How Does it Look Under the Hood?

Interesting… Several things we can notice:

4. There is a public constructor that is generated for us: public

5. There are two getter methods named firstName() and lastName() .

Adding Member Declarations in Records

JDK 14: Records, Text Blocks, and More (https://dzone.com/articles/jdk-14-records-

Record (Computer Science) Java (Programming Language)

Handling Virtual Threads (/articles/handling-virtual-threads?fromrel=true)

Comparing Flutter vs. React Native (/articles/comparing-flutter-vs-react-native?

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing SQL Code (/articles/common-mistakes-to-

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