Oracle to limit support for Java 9
Following their previously announced plans for a six-month release cycle for the Java Development Kit, Oracle has announced that support for this month’s upcoming Java 9 will be short-lived to make way for the first release in the new cycle in March 2018.
Despite the limited support, Java Platform Group Vice President, George Saab, says that developers would still want to hop on version 9 to get a head-start on understanding the new features.
JDK 9 and the March’s JDK 18.3, featuring the new numbering scheme representing the year and month of release, will both be considered feature releases by Oracle, with the next long-term support release, version 18.9, to come in September of next year. The current long-term support release, JDK 8, is expected to continue receiving updates until next September, with support available until 2025.
Tesla boosts Model X, S performance during Hurricane Irma
After requests by at least one Tesla car owner in Florida for assistance with evacuations, Tesla pushed a software update providing up to 40 miles more battery life in select models.
While the battery in the Tesla Model X and Model S can hold a full charge of 75 kilowatt-hours, part of the buying options for the cars lets users save money with limits on their battery life. Tesla suspended these software limits just before Hurricane Irma battered Florida.
While many praised the move as logical and practical, some were perturbed by the realization that Tesla was throttling the cars with software despite the 60 kilowatt-hour and 70 kilowatt-hour models having the same hardware. At a full charge, the 75-kilowatt hour batteries can provide around 250 miles of travel.
ScaleArc releases latest version of ScaleArc for SQL Server
Database load balancing software developer ScaleArc has announced the latest release of ScaleArc for SQL Server which they say enhances its load balancing capabilities.
User can now direct and load balance database reads and writes within a transaction for better performance in custom or packaged applications within having to modify the applications themselves, all while maintaining ACID compliance.
“Working with off-the-shelf software presents a significant challenge, since our customers can’t modify the code,” said David Klee, founder at Heraflux and Microsoft Data Platform MVP. “We can tune the database and instance up to a certain point, but this this new ScaleArc capability is an incredible new method for improving performance for a broad range of business-critical applications.”
