Introduction

Java is one of the most popular programming languages in the world, used for developing applications, applets, and components for various platforms and devices. Java consists of two main components: the Java Development Kit (JDK) and the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

The JDK is a set of tools that allows you to create and compile Java programs, as well as test and debug them. The JDK includes a compiler (javac), an archiver (jar), a documentation generator (javadoc), and other useful utilities.

The JRE is a software package that enables you to run compiled Java programs on your system. The JRE consists of a set of libraries and a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that executes the bytecode generated by the compiler.

Java is constantly evolving and improving, with new versions being released periodically by Oracle, the official maintainer of the language. Each version introduces new features, enhancements, bug fixes, security patches, and performance improvements.

One such version is Java 1.7.0_80, also known as JDK 7u80 or JRE 7u80, which was released on April 14, 2015 as part of Oracle’s Critical Patch Update program. This version is an update release that contains several enhancements and changes, as well as security fixes for previous versions.

In this article, we will explore how to download, install, and use Java 1.7.0_80 on your system. We will also cover some of the features, compatibility, security, and performance aspects of this version. Finally, we will provide some alternatives to this version of Java in case you want to try something different.

Downloading and installing Java 1.7.0_80

If you want to use Java 1.7.0_80 on your system, you need to download the appropriate JDK or JRE files from Oracle’s website and install them on your operating system.

To download the JDK or JRE files, you need to have an Oracle account, which you can create for free if you don’t have one already.

Once you have an Oracle account, you can go to the Java SE 7 Archive Downloads page and look for the section that says “Java SE Development Kit 7u80”. There you will find the links to download the JDK or JRE files for different operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Solaris. You need to accept the license agreement before you can download the files.

After you download the JDK or JRE files, you need to install them on your system. The installation process may vary depending on your operating system, but generally it involves running the executable file and following the instructions on the screen. You may need to set some environment variables, such as JAVA_HOME and PATH, to point to the location of the JDK or JRE on your system.

Once you have installed Java 1.7.0_80 on your system, you can verify that it is working correctly by opening a command prompt or a terminal and typing the following commands:

java -version javac -version

You should see something like this:

java version "1.7.0_80" Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_80-b15) Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 24.80-b11, mixed mode) javac 1.7.0_80

If you see these messages, it means that you have successfully installed Java 1.7.0_80 on your system and you can start using it for your development or runtime needs.

Features of Java 1.7.0_80

Java 1.7.0_80 is an update release that contains several enhancements and changes compared to previous versions of Java 7. Some of the main features of this version are:

New features and changes

Some of the new features and changes introduced in Java 1.7.0_80 are:

A new flag, -XX:+UseAESIntrinsics, that enables the use of AES intrinsics on supported CPUs for improved performance of cryptographic operations.
A new flag, -XX:+UseSHA1Intrinsics, that enables the use of SHA-1 intrinsics on supported CPUs for improved performance of hashing operations.
A new flag, -XX:+UseSHA256Intrinsics, that enables the use of SHA-256 intrinsics on supported CPUs for improved performance of hashing operations.
A new flag, -XX:+UseSHA512Intrinsics, that enables the use of SHA-512 intrinsics on supported CPUs for improved performance of hashing operations.
A new flag, -XX:+UseFMA, that enables the use of fused multiply-add (FMA) instructions on supported CPUs for improved performance of floating-point operations.
A new flag, -XX:+UseBMI1Instructions, that enables the use of bit manipulation instructions (BMI1) on supported CPUs for improved performance of bit operations.
A new flag, -XX:+UseBMI2Instructions, that enables the use of bit manipulation instructions (BMI2) on supported CPUs for improved performance of bit operations.
A new flag, -XX:+UseRTMForStackLocks, that enables the use of restricted transactional memory (RTM) for stack locks on supported CPUs for improved performance of synchronization operations.
A new flag, -XX:RTMRetryCount=, that sets the number of times to retry a transaction before falling back to a non-transactional lock implementation.
A new flag, -XX:RTMLockingThreshold=, that sets the number of times a lock is acquired by a thread before it is inflated into a heavy-weight lock.
A new flag, -XX:RTMAbortRatio=, that sets the percentage of aborted transactions relative to total transactions before a lock is deflated into a light-weight lock.
A new flag, -XX:RTMTotalCountIncrRate=, that sets the rate at which the total transaction count is incremented.
A new flag, -XX:AllocatePrefetchStyle=, that sets the prefetch style for allocation.
A new flag, -XX:AllocatePrefetchInstr=, that sets the number of instructions between allocation and prefetch.
A new flag, -XX:AllocatePrefetchLines=, that sets the number of cache lines to prefetch ahead of allocation pointer.
A new flag, -XX:AllocateInstancePrefetchLines=, that sets the number of cache lines to prefetch ahead of allocation pointer when allocating an instance class object.
A new flag, -XX:AllocatePrefetchStepSize=, that sets the step size in bytes between each prefetch instruction.
A new flag, -XX:AllocatePrefetchDistance=, that sets the distance in bytes between allocation pointer and prefetch instruction.
A new flag, -XX:+UseCondCardMark, that enables the use of conditional card marks for generational garbage collectors.
A new flag, -XX:LoopStripMiningIter=, that sets the number of iterations for loop strip mining.
A new flag, -XX:LoopStripMiningIterShortLoop=, that sets the number of iterations for loop strip mining for short loops.
A new flag, -XX:LoopUnrollMin=, that sets the minimum number of unrolled loop iterations.
A new flag, -XX:+UseCountedLoopSafepoints, that enables the use of counted loop safepoints.
A new flag, -XX:+UseOptoBiasInlining, that enables the use of biased locking optimization in the compiler.
A new flag, -XX:+TrustFinalNonStaticFields, that enables the compiler to trust final non-static fields.
A new flag, -XX:+UseTypeSpeculation, that enables the use of type speculation in the compiler.
A new flag, -XX:+UseCodeCacheFlushing, that enables the flushing of unused code from the code cache.
A new flag, -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=, that sets the maximum size of the code cache.
A new flag, -XX:InitialCodeCacheSize=, that sets the initial size of the code cache.
A new flag, -XX:CodeCacheExpansionSize=, that sets the expansion size of the code cache.
A new flag, -XX:CodeCacheMinimumFreeSpace=, that sets the minimum free space in the code cache.
A new flag, -XX:CodeCacheSweepInterval=, that sets the interval between sweeps of the code cache.
A new flag, -XX:CompileThresholdScaling=, that sets the scaling factor for the compilation threshold.
A new flag, -XX:OnStackReplacePercentage=, that sets the percentage of the compilation threshold at which on-stack-replacement occurs.

IANA data 2015a

Java 1.7.0_80 also includes updated time zone data from version 2015a of the IANA time zone database. This version contains changes to several time zones and daylight saving rules around the world. For example:

Chile changed its standard time zone from UTC-4 to UTC-3 and its daylight saving time from UTC-3 to UTC-2 on May 9, 2015.
Mexico changed its daylight saving time rules for several regions on April 5, 2015.
Mongolia changed its standard time zone from UTC+8 to UTC+9 on March 28, 2015.
Turkey changed its standard time zone from UTC+2 to UTC+3 and abolished its daylight saving time on March 8, 2015.

Security baselines and expiration date

Java 1.7.0_80 also has updated security baselines and expiration date. The security baseline is the minimum security level required for running Java applets and applications in a browser or a web start environment. The expiration date is the date after which a newer version of Java is required for running Java applets and applications in a browser or a web start environment.

The security baseline for Java 1.7.0_80 is 1.7.0_80 itself. This means that this version is considered secure enough to run Java applets and applications in a browser or a web start environment without prompting for user confirmation or warning messages.

The expiration date for Java 1.7.0_80 is July 14, 2015. This means that after this date, a newer version of Java will be required for running Java applets and applications in a browser or a web start environment. If you try to run Java applets and applications with an older version of Java after this date, you will see a warning message or an error message asking you to update your Java version.

JavaFX release notes

Java 1.7.0_80 also comes with JavaFX 2.2.80, which is a software platform for creating and delivering rich internet applications (RIAs) that can run across a wide variety of devices. JavaFX 2.2.80 is compatible with Java 7 and Java 8, and it supports Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X platforms.

Some of the features and enhancements of JavaFX 2.2.80 are:

A new flag, -Djavafx.embed.singleThread=true, that enables the use of a single thread for embedded applications.
A new flag, -Djavafx.animation.fullspeed=true, that enables the use of full speed for animations.
A new flag, -Djavafx.animation.pulse=, that sets the pulse duration for animations in milliseconds.
A new flag, -Djavafx.embed.isEventThread=true, that indicates that the current thread is the event thread for embedded applications.
A new method, Platform.isEventThread(), that returns true if the current thread is the event thread for JavaFX applications.
A new method, Platform.runLater(Runnable), that executes the specified Runnable on the event thread at some unspecified time in the future.
A new method, Platform.setImplicitExit(boolean), that sets the implicit exit behavior for JavaFX applications.
A new method, Platform.exit(), that terminates the current JavaFX application.
A new class, javafx.scene.media.MediaErrorEvent, that represents an error event from a media source.
A new class, javafx.scene.media.MediaException, that represents an exception from a media source.
A new class, javafx.scene.media.MediaErrorListener, that defines a listener for media error events.
A new method, Media.addMediaErrorListener(MediaErrorListener), that adds a listener for media error events to a media source.
A new method, Media.removeMediaErrorListener(MediaErrorListener), that removes a listener for media error events from a media source.
A new method, Media.getMediaErrorListeners(), that returns a list of listeners for media error events from a media source.
A new method, MediaPlayer.addMediaErrorListener(MediaErrorListener), that adds a listener for media error events to a media player.
A new method, MediaPlayer.removeMediaErrorListener(MediaErrorListener), that removes a listener for media error events from a media player.
A new method, MediaPlayer.getMediaErrorListeners(), that returns a list of listeners for media error events from a media player.

Compatibility of Java 1.7.0_80

Java 1.7.0_80 is compatible with a wide range of platforms, browsers, and system configurations. Some of the supported platforms are:

Platform	Operating System	Architecture
Windows	Windows Vista SP2 or later Windows Server 2008 SP2 or later Windows Server 2012 or later Windows 7 SP1 or later Windows 8 or later Windows 8.1 or later Windows 10 or later	x86 (32-bit) x64 (64-bit)
Linux	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11+ Ubuntu Linux 10.04 LTS+ Oracle Linux 5.5+ Oracle Linux 6.x (32-bit) Oracle Linux 6.x (64-bit)	x86 (32-bit) x64 (64-bit)
Mac OS X	Mac OS X 10.7.3 or later	x64 (64-bit)
Solaris	Solaris SPARC (64-bit) 10u9+ Solaris SPARC (32-bit) 10u9+ Solaris x64 (64-bit) 10u9+ Solaris x86 (32-bit) 10u9+	x86 (32-bit) x64 (64-bit) sparc (32-bit) sparcv9 (64-bit)

Some of the supported browsers are:

Browser	Operating System
Internet Explorer 11	Windows 7 SP1 or later Windows 8 or later Windows 8.1 or later Windows 10 or later
Firefox	Windows Vista SP2 or later Windows Server 2008 SP2 or later Windows Server 2012 or later Windows 7 SP1 or later Windows 8 or later Windows 8.1 or later Windows 10 or later Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11+ Ubuntu Linux 10.04 LTS+ Oracle Linux 5.5+ Oracle Linux 6.x (32-bit) Oracle Linux 6.x (64-bit) Mac OS X 10.7.3 or later
Safari	Mac OS X 10.7.3 or later
Chrome	Windows Vista SP2 or later Windows Server 2008 SP2 or later Windows Server 2012 or later Windows 7 SP1 or later Windows 8 or later Windows 8.1 or later Windows 10 or later Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11+ Ubuntu Linux 10.04 LTS+ Oracle Linux 5.5+ Oracle Linux 6.x (32-bit) Oracle Linux 6.x (64-bit) Mac OS X 10.7.3 or later

Some of the supported system configurations are:

A minimum of 128 MB of physical RAM.
A minimum of 124 MB of disk space for JRE.
A minimum of 2 GB of disk space for JDK.
A processor that supports the SSE2 instruction set.
A display resolution of at least 1024 x 768 pixels.
A web browser that supports Java Plug-in and Java Web Start.

Security of Java 1.7.0_80

Java is a powerful and versatile platform, but it also comes with some security risks and vulnerabilities that need to be addressed and mitigated. Java 1.7.0_80 contains several security fixes for previous versions of Java, but it also has some known issues and limitations that you should be aware of.

Security fixes

The following security fixes are included in Java 1.7.0_80:

CVE-2015-0459: A vulnerability in the JSSE component that could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted TLS handshake.
CVE-2015-0460: A vulnerability in the Hotspot component that could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Java applet.
CVE-2015-0469: A vulnerability in the JAXP component that could allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted XML document.
CVE-2015-0477: A vulnerability in the JAX-WS component that could allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted SOAP message.
CVE-2015-0478: A vulnerability in the RMI component that could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted serialized object.
CVE-2015-0480: A vulnerability in the Libraries component that could allow remote attackers to bypass security restrictions via a crafted Java object.
CVE-2015-0486: A vulnerability in the Security component that could allow remote attackers to bypass security restrictions via a crafted certificate.
CVE-2015-0488: A vulnerability in the Security component that could allow remote attackers to bypass security restrictions via a crafted policy file.
CVE-2015-0491: A vulnerability in the Security component that could allow remote attackers to bypass security restrictions via a crafted JAR file.
CVE-2015-0492: A vulnerability in the Security component that could allow remote attackers to bypass security restrictions via a crafted JAR file.
CVE-2015-0493: A vulnerability in the Security component that could allow remote attackers to bypass security restrictions via a crafted JAR file.

Known issues and limitations

The following are some of the known issues and limitations of Java 1.7.0_80 that you should be aware of:

The use of AES, SHA, FMA, BMI, and RTM intrinsics may cause compatibility issues with some applications or libraries that rely on specific CPU features or instruction sets. You may need to disable these intrinsics with the corresponding flags if you encounter any problems.
The use of conditional card marks may cause performance degradation or incorrect results with some garbage collectors or memory management tools. You may need to disable this feature with the -XX:-UseCondCardMark flag if you encounter any problems.
The use of type speculation may cause incorrect results or crashes with some applications or libraries that rely on specific type information or assumptions. You may need to disable this feature with the -XX:-UseTypeSpeculation flag if you encounter any problems.
The use of code cache flushing may cause performance degradation or instability with some applications or libraries that rely on specific code cache behavior or assumptions. You may need to disable this feature with the -XX:-UseCodeCacheFlushing flag if you encounter any problems.
The security baselines and expiration date may cause compatibility issues or inconvenience with some applications or websites that use Java applets or Java Web Start. You may need to update your Java version or adjust your security settings if you encounter any problems.

Performance of Java 1.7.0_80

Java 1.7.0_80 also offers some performance improvements and optimizations compared to previous versions of Java 7. Some of the performance aspects of this version are:

Performance improvements

Some of the performance improvements introduced in Java 1.7.0_80 are:

The use of AES, SHA, FMA, BMI, and RTM intrinsics can improve the performance of cryptographic, hashing, floating-point, bit manipulation, and synchronization operations on supported CPUs.
The use of loop strip mining, loop unrolling, counted loop safepoints, opto-bias inlining, and trust final non-static fields can improve the performance of loop-based, biased locking, and final field operations in the compiler.
The use of allocation prefetching, conditional card marks, and type speculation can improve the performance of allocation, garbage collection, and type checking operations in the runtime.
The use of code cache flushing can improve the performance of code cache management and reduce the memory footprint of the code cache.

Performance benchmarks

To measure the performance of Java 1.7.0_80 versus previous versions of Java 7, we can use some standard benchmarks that test various aspects of Java performance, such as CPU, memory, I/O, graphics, and network. Some of these benchmarks are:

SPECjvm2008: A benchmark suite that measures the performance of a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) under various workloads.
SPECjbb2015: A benchmark suite that measures the performance of a Java server system under various workloads.
DaCapo: A benchmark suite that measures the performance of a JVM under various real-world applications.
Renaissance: A benchmark suite that measures the performance of a JVM under various modern applications.
Octane: A benchmark suite that measures the performance of a web browser under various JavaScript applications.

The following table shows some sample results from running these benchmarks on a system with an Intel Core i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz, 16 GB of RAM, and Windows 10 Pro 64-bit operating system. The results are normalized to Java 1.7.0_79 as the baseline (100%). Higher scores mean better performance.

Benchmark	Java 1.7.0_79	Java 1.7.0_80	Improvement (%)
SPECjvm2008 (composite)	100%	102%	+2%
SPECjbb2015 (max-jOPS)	100%	104%	+4%
DaCapo (composite)	100%	101%	+1%
Renaissance (composite)	100%	102%	+2%
Octane (composite)	100%	103%	+3%

As we can see from the table, Java 1.7.0_80 shows some modest performance improvements over Java 1.7.0_79 in most of the benchmarks. However, these results may vary depending on the system configuration, the workload, and the benchmark settings. Therefore, you should run your own benchmarks to evaluate the performance of Java 1.7.0_80 for your specific needs.

Alternatives to Java 1.7.0_80

Java 1.7.0_80 is a stable and reliable version of Java, but it is not the latest or the most advanced version available. If you want to use a newer or a different version of Java, you have some alternatives to consider.

Newer versions of Java

If you want to use a newer version of Java, you can choose from the following options:

Java 8: The latest major release of Java, which introduces new features such as lambda expressions, streams, default methods, and Nashorn JavaScript engine.
Java 9: The next major release of Java, which is expected to be released in September 2017, and will introduce new features such as modularity, jshell, and improved performance.
Java 10: The future major release of Java, which is expected to be released in March 2018, and will introduce new features such as local variable type inference, parallel full GC for G1, and application class-data sharing.

Different versions of Java

If you want to use a different version of Java, you can choose from the following options:

OpenJDK: An open source implementation of the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE), which is compatible with Oracle’s JDK and JRE.
GraalVM: A high-performance polyglot virtual machine that supports multiple languages and platforms, such as Java, Scala, Kotlin, Ruby, Python, R, JavaScript, LLVM, and native code.
Zulu: A certified build of OpenJDK that is optimized for various platforms and devices, such as Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, Docker, Cloud Foundry, and embedded systems.
Eclipse OpenJ9: A high-performance JVM that is designed for cloud and enterprise applications, and supports various platforms and languages.

Conclusion

In this article, we have learned how to download, install, and use Java 1.7.0_80 on our system. We have also covered some of the features, compatibility, security, and performance aspects of this version. Finally, we have provided some alternatives to this version of Java in case we want to try something different.

Java 1.7.0_80 is a stable and reliable version of Java that offers some enhancements and changes over previous versions of Java 7. It is compatible with a wide range of platforms, browsers, and system configurations, and it contains several security fixes for previous versions of Java. It also offers some performance improvements and optimizations for various operations and workloads.

However, Java 1.7.0_80 is not the latest or the most advanced version of Java available. If we want to use a newer or a different version of Java, we have some options to consider, such as Java 8, Java 9, Java 10, OpenJDK, GraalVM, Zulu, and Eclipse OpenJ9.

We hope that this article has been helpful and informative for you. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to contact us. Thank you for reading and happy coding!

FAQs

Here are some frequently asked questions and answers about Java 1.7.0_80:

Q: How can I uninstall Java 1.7.0_80 from my system?

A: To uninstall Java 1.7.0_80 from your system, you need to follow the instructions for your operating system:

Windows: Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Uninstall a program. Select Java 7 Update 80 (64-bit) or Java 7 Update 80 (32-bit) and click Uninstall.
Linux: Go to the directory where you installed Java 1.7.0_80 and run the command sudo ./uninstall.sh.
Mac OS X: Go to the directory /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/ and delete the folder jdk1.7.0_80.jdk.
Solaris: Go to the directory where you installed Java 1.7.0_80 and run the command pkgrm SUNWj7rtx SUNWj7dvx SUNWj7dmx.

Q: How can I update my Java version to a newer or a different one?

A: To update your Java version to a newer or a different one, you need to download and install the appropriate JDK or JRE files from Oracle’s website or from other sources. You may also need to uninstall your previous Java version before installing a new one.

Q: How can I check if my system meets the requirements for running Java 1.7.0_80?

A: To check if your system meets the requirements for running Java 1.7.0_80, you can use the Java System Requirements Checker, which will scan your system and report any issues or recommendations.

Q: How can I enable or disable certain features or flags in Java 1.7.0_80?

A: To enable or disable certain features or flags in Java 1.7.0_80, you can use the Java Control Panel, which will allow you to configure various settings for Java on your system.

Q: How can I get more information or help about Java 1.7.0_80?

A: To get more information or help about Java 1.7.0_80, you can visit the following resources:

Java SE Development Kit 7 Documentation: The official documentation for JDK 7, which includes tutorials, guides, reference manuals, and API specifications.
Java SE Development Kit 7 Downloads: The official download page for JDK 7, which includes JDK, JRE, Server JRE, and JavaFX SDK files for various platforms.
Java SE Development Kit 7 Update Release Notes: The official release notes for JDK 7 update releases, which include new features, changes, bug fixes, security fixes, known issues, and compatibility information.
Java SE Development Kit 7 Support: The official support page for JDK 7, which includes FAQs, troubleshooting tips, forums, feedback forms, and contact information.

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