Also, Nokia asks for changes in Java Community Process in wake of Java deal. In a keynote at Sun's JavaOne developer conference on Tuesday, Java creator James Gosling announced that Sun will add assertions and generics to Java because they are the two most popular developer requests. The changes will be available in version 1.4 of the Java platform. Both changes will result in more reliable Java applications.
Assertions lets developers test assumptions they have made about their code before deploying it.
If, for example, there is a jar of olives, Gosling said, generics lower the odds that developers would put walnuts into the jar by mistake. You can declare a Java class which is parameterized by type, and you can declare a variable which is an instance of that class parameterized in a certain way. A map that maps strings to employees is an example. Generics is controversial and has been widely debated inside and outside of Sun. Gosling said the concept is so complicated that no two developers could agree on exactly how it should be implemented.