Keep using the version of Netbeans you are using. There's no "rush" for you to upgrade.
That said, however, the "rush" to get off JDK 8 is speed and features. JDK 8 is not capable of many of the current features of JDK 21. To expect the developers to remain stuck in past decades and to not use the best of Java is unreasonable. Just my $.02. On Thu, Mar 14, 2024 at 5:52 AM Blake McBride <blake1...@gmail.com> wrote: > It is my opinion that NetBeans should support JDK 8 for as long as JDK 8 is > supported. Extended support is provided by Oracle till 2030. Other groups > (Azul) also support JDK 8 till 2030. It's hard for me to imagine what the > rush to move off of 8 is. > > Blake McBride > > > On Mon, Apr 3, 2023 at 4:39 AM Neil C Smith <neilcsm...@apache.org> wrote: > > > As mentioned elsewhere, I'm kicking off a process to bring this issue > > to a decision. For various reasons, having a decision before we > > branch off NB18 is desirable. I've drawn up a draft proposal (below) > > that tries to encompass most of what has been expressed, and hopefully > > achieves that - thanks to those who have already given feedback in its > > iteration. > > > > This thread will be active for 7 days. Expressions of support and > > disagreement welcomed. In particular, if you -1 please offer an > > alternative to all or part of this proposal that you're able to help > > implement. We should try and reach a consensus position that removes > > any block. If after the 7 days we cannot do this, then we move to a > > vote on this with any agreed amendments. > > > > See also the page at > > https://community.apache.org/committers/consensusBuilding.html > > > > Thanks, Neil > > > > ==================================================================== > > > > # Proposed policy > > > > * Apache NetBeans 18 will be the last release to support running the > > platform on JDK 8. > > > > * From Apache NetBeans 19, the minimum JDK required to build and run > > the IDE or platform will be JDK 11. > > > > * Future releases will take an "LTS-1" strategy for building and > > running (and CI testing) of the IDE and platform. Three JDKs will be > > supported at any one time - the current JDK, plus the previous two LTS > > releases. eg. NetBeans 20 and 21 (Nov 2023 / Feb 2024) will support > > JDK 11, 17 and 21. NetBeans 22 (May 2024) will support JDK 17, 21 and > > 22. > > > > ## Background > > > > The Apache NetBeans IDE has officially required JDK 11 to build and > > run since NetBeans 13 in March 2022. The platform (and unofficially > > the IDE) have continued to support running on JDK 8 - all modules > > requiring a higher JDK must currently be optional. Various tests have > > continued on JDK 8. > > > > This situation is causing issues as workarounds must be found for > > currently non-optional features that have dependencies or other > > requirements for running on a higher JDK (eg. Maven indexing / Lucene > > [1]). It's causing delays, complications and missed testing time in > > integration of new features (eg. problems merging support for EE 10 > > [2]). Supporting an increasing range of JDKs is causing increasing > > workload, both for people and CI. Meeting the challenges of deprecated > > (for removal) features in the JDK is also complicated by the > > additional JDK requirements. > > > > ## Notes > > > > * Apache NetBeans users will continue to be recommended to use the > > current or latest LTS JDK to run the IDE. The IDE will continue to > > support users developing projects for/with JDK 8, for as long as > > nb-javac and other dependencies allow. > > > > * This proposal specifically doesn't address when the default bytecode > > level across the codebase is increased. This can happen when required, > > but non-optional modules would be free to adopt the minimum JDK as > > they need to. > > > > * Optional modules may continue to require a runtime JDK higher than > > the minimum. Should it become necessary, build time optional modules > > might be considered - eg. a build on the minimum JDK may exclude > > modules that will not run on that JDK at runtime. > > > > * Some modules that are of independent use (eg. lookup, utilities, > > etc.) might be nominated and advertised to continue JDK 8 support for > > the time being. This is not expected to cover the runtime container as > > a whole - > https://netbeans.apache.org/tutorials/nbm-runtime-container.html > > > > * Once NetBeans 19 is released, the NetBeans 18 release branch could > > be used to backport and release JDK 8 supporting fixes, subject to any > > PMC members wanting to manage those releases. > > > > * The term "platform" is used in reference to the whole framework of > > modules that we release (eg. via Maven), not just the platform > > cluster. > > > > [1] https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/4999 > > [2] https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/4692 > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@netbeans.apache.org > > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@netbeans.apache.org > > > > For further information about the NetBeans mailing lists, visit: > > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/NETBEANS/Mailing+lists > > > > > > > > >
