anchor.diff:  === Method references
   
   The Java 8 method reference syntax using the double colon syntax is now supported.
  -
  -[width="80%",align="center"]
  -|===
  -a| NOTE: _Experimental Status:_ While this feature will remain, we regard its current implementation as experimental. Currently, a method reference is turned into a Groovy method closure. This means that it even works when using JDK7 (i.e. using Groovy 2.6 with Parrot parser enabled on a version 7 JRE). We are currently exploring supporting native method references either instead of, or in addition to, method closures. If we change the implementation, we would expect no change in logical behavior though the new implementation may have different performance characteristics in some circumstances and the native implementation would only work on JDK8+.  Our goal is to clarify this aspect of the language before reaching release candidate status.
  -|===
  +Let's first look at some of the supported cases before coming back to some implementation details.
   
   The following examples illustrate referencing both static and instance methods of a class:
   
  
positive.code: 
  === Identity comparison operators
  
  Both `===` and `!==` are supported which are the same as calling the `is()` method.
  
  [source,groovy]
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negative.code: [width="80%",align="center"]
  |===
  a| NOTE: _WARNING:_
  Material on this page is still under development! We are currently releasing beta versions of Groovy 3.0 with a goal
  of gathering feedback on the language changes from our community. In addition, the beta versions assist other projects
  and tool vendors within the Groovy ecosystem to begin assessing the impact of moving to/supporting Groovy 3.0.
  Caution should be exercised if using new features as the details may change before final release.
  |===
  
  [[Groovy3.0releasenotes-Parrot]]
  