Understanding modular run-time images [JEP-220]

Java 9's modular system required changes to the runtime images for compatibility. Benefits of these changes include enhancements in the following areas:

  • Maintainability
  • Performance
  • Security

Core to these changes was a new URI schema used for resource naming. These resources include modules and classes.

A Uniform Resource Identifier ( URI) is similar to a URL ( Uniform Resource Locator) in that it identifies the name and location of something. For a URL, that something is a web page; for a URI, it is a resource.

There were five primary goals for JEP-220 and these are detailed in the following sections.