When will the Java Language Specification, 4th edition be available?

Question

Now that the JDK 7 developer preview is out, one might think that it's time for a new JLS. After all, there have been changes to the language, albeit small ones.

I haven't found anything yet. When will a new JLS will be available, and from whence will one be able to get it?

Answer 1

You might be interested in both of these:

JSR 901: Java Language Specification
JSR 924: Java Virtual Machine Specification

Not surprisingly, both of them have recent draft reviews...

Answer 2

UPDATE Feb 18, 2012: As described at https://blogs.oracle.com/abuckley/en_US/entry/jls7_and_jvms7_online, the Java SE 7 Editions of the Java Language Specification and the JVM Specification are now available at http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/ in both PDF and HTML form.

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There are 3 locations from which you can download the Java Language Specification (JLS), 4th edition (more precisely, not "4th edition" but "Java SE 7 edition").

A relatively old draft is part of JSR 901 (http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=901). It is missing discussion of some of the new language features, such as those of JSR 334, Project Coin (http://www.jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=334).

JSR 336 (http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=336) contains an Annex 3 (http://download.oracle.com/otn-pub/jcp/java_se-7-final-spec/java_se-7-final-annex-3.zip) that has four different versions of the JLS: a full version with and without changebars, and a normative-only (1/3 shorter, lacking some examples and explanations) version with and without changebars. JSR 336's Annex 3 also has 2 versions of the JVMS (with and without changebars).

The best source is to get the JLS from the Java SE Specifications download page (http://download.oracle.com/javase/cmn/spec_index.html) (direct link to JLS PDF: http://download.oracle.com/javase/7/specs/jls/JLS-JavaSE7.pdf). This version is slightly updated, compared to the JSR 336 version. Only one variety is available: the full specification without changebars.

As of now (August 4, 2011), JLS 4th edition is not available in printed form, nor is it available from http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/ where the first three editions are available for download.