The OpenJDK community has proposed a new feature to make Java more accessible to students. The proposal suggests introducing flexible main methods and anonymous main classes to simplify the process of writing basic programs and reduce the complexity associated with simple scripts and command-line utilities. The feature, which is currently disabled by default, will be available in JDK 21.

The goal of this proposal is to provide a smooth on-ramp to Java for educators to introduce programming concepts gradually. The plan does not entail creating a separate beginner’s dialect or toolchain for Java. With this new feature, students will be able to write streamlined declarations for single-class programs and gradually expand their programs as their skills develop.

The proposal suggests enhancing the protocol by which Java programs are launched to be more flexible, allowing the String[] parameter of main methods to be omitted and main methods to be neither public nor static. Additionally, anonymous main classes would be introduced to make the class declaration implicit.

The proposal acknowledges that Java was not initially designed as a first programming language. Still, with this new feature, it hopes to reduce the ceremony and complexity associated with writing simple programs and make Java more accessible to beginners. The plan’s goals include offering a smooth on-ramp to Java for educators to gradually introduce programming concepts, helping students write basic programs, and reducing the ceremony of writing simple programs such as scripts and command-line utilities.

The current version of Java, JDK 20, was introduced last month, with JDK 21 due to be released in September. JEP 445 provides details on how to try out the preview features of JDK 21, including compiling programs with the javac compiler or using the source code launcher.