Java 8 introduced several new features and enhancements: 1. Lambdas: Lambdas enable functional programming in Java and simplify the process of writing code that handles collections, concurrency, and other tasks. 2. Stream API: The Stream API is a new API for processing collections in a functional style, which makes it easy to filter, transform, and aggregate data. 3. Default Methods: Default methods allow interface evolution by providing a mechanism to add new methods to an interface without breaking the code that already implements the interface. 4. Date and Time API: The Date and Time API provides a more comprehensive and flexible API for working with dates and times. 5. Optional: Optional is a new class that helps avoid null pointer exceptions by providing a way to represent a value that may or may not be present. 6. Nashorn JavaScript Engine: Nashorn is a new JavaScript engine that allows developers to embed JavaScript in Java applications and execute it on the JVM. 7. Type Annot