Let's have a very high-level overview of what has happened in Java EE version 8. The goal of this version is to improve the developer's experience even more, to streamline the API usage further, and to make Java EE ready for new demands in cloud environments. We saw two completely new JSRs, JSON-B (Java API for JSON Binding) and Security, together with improvements in existing standards. In particular, introducing JSON-B simplifies the integration of JSON HTTP APIs in a vendor-independent way.

The direction of Java EE is to improve the development of enterprise applications in regard to modern environments and circumstances. It turns out that modern environments are not only compatible with Java EE but encourage approaches that have been part of the platform for years. Examples are the separation of the API from the implementation, or application server monitoring.

On the long-term roadmap, there is better support for modern monitoring, health-checks, and resilience. Currently, these aspects have to be integrated in a few lines of codes, as we will see in later chapters. The long-term goal is to make that integration more straightforward. Java EE aims to let developers focus on what they should focus on - solving business problems.