Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Enhancement in Java API Documentation
The API documentation for Java SE 8 has some enhancements that let you browse the APIs by profiles and show the
profiles in which packages and classes are included. Figure
C-2
shows a screenshot of the new look of the Java API
documentation page. Now you can browse the Java SE APIs for a specific profile or for the full JRE.
Figure C-2.
A screenshot of the profile information shown in the Java SE API documentation
When you open the API documentation using frames, three types of links are provided in the top area of the
top-left frame:
All Classes
,
All Packages
, and
All Profiles
. Clicking the
All Profiles
link shows the list of
profiles (marked inside a rectangle in the figure). Clicking a profile will show you all packages available in that profile.
The right frame displays the list of profiles that includes the class. If a class is included only in the full JRE, the list of
profiles will be shown blank.
Checking for Profile Dependencies
JDK 8 added a new class dependency analyzer tool called
jdeps
. It shows the package-level and class-level
dependencies of Java class files. It can also analyze dependencies of classes on compact profiles to help you determine
which profile you need for the deployment of your application. By default, it prints the output on the standard output.
Using the
-dotoutput
option, you can send the output to a file in DOT file format. DOT is a plain text graph description
language that is readable by humans as well as computer programs. The general syntax for using the tool is
jdeps <options> <classes>
