The Java Language Specification, Java SE 7 Edition

Written by the inventors of the technology, The Java ® Language Specification, Java SE 7 Edition,is the definitive technical reference for the Java programming language. The book provides complete, accurate, and detailed coverage of the Java programming language. It fully describes the new features added in Java SE 7, including the try-with-resources statement, multi-catch, precise rethrow, “diamond” syntax, strings-in-switch, and binary literals. The book also includes many explanatory notes, and carefully distinguishes the formal rules of the language from the practical behavior of compilers.

James Gosling is the creator of the Java programming language and a former Fellow at Sun Microsystems. He developed the original Java compiler and Java Virtual Machine, and was a principal in the Andrew project at Carnegie Mellon University, where he earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science. He joined Liquid Robotics as Chief Software Architect in 2011.

Bill Joy is a co-founder of Sun Microsystems and was the principal architect of the Berkeley version of UNIX®, for which he received a lifetime achievement award from the USENIX Association in 1993. Joy has had a central role in shaping the Java programming language. He joined KPCB as a Greentech Partner in 2005.

Guy L. Steele Jr. is a Software Architect at Oracle Labs, where he conducts research in language design and implementation strategies, parallel algorithms, and computer arithmetic. Steele is a co-creator of the Scheme programming language, an ACM Fellow, an IEEE Fellow, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Gilad Bracha is the creator of the Newspeak programming language and a former Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems. Prior to Sun, he worked on Strongtalk, the Animorphic Smalltalk System. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Utah.

Alex Buckley is the Specification Lead for the Java programming language and the Java Virtual Machine at Oracle. He holds a Ph.D. in Computing from Imperial College London.