Hello Gaetan,
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts again, I really do
appreciate the honest pushback.
I have to admit, I'm still having trouble fully understanding the reasoning
behind it. Why are we so hesitant to welcome a contribution like this into
the project? We're not making any changes to the framework itself, this is
purely an addition to the plugins folder. I'd hope that kind of
contribution would be an easy one to accept. If something can genuinely
help someone in the community, even in a small way, I feel it's worth
contributing rather than turning away.
To lay out a bit more context on what "merging" would actually mean here,
in case it helps:
- No core framework functionality changes. devreload lives entirely as an
isolated component under plugins/devreload. The only framework-side
touchpoint is a small, reflective hook that safely no-ops when the plugin
isn't present on the classpath - so a system that never installs the plugin
behaves exactly as it does today.
- It's fully opt-in. Nothing changes for the default workflow. Anyone who
doesn't want this feature keeps using `./gradlew ofbiz` exactly as before.
The hot-reload behavior is only reachable through a separate command,
`./gradlew ofbizDev`, that a developer has to explicitly choose to run.
- The plugins repo already exists to host supporting/optional components
that can benefit part of the community without obligating everyone to use
or maintain them. That's the model I'm following here, not a proposal to
fold this into framework/ or make it a default dependency.
On the gain/work ratio, I'd gently push back a little: the gain is real for
anyone doing active OFBiz development without an IDE-based hot-swap setup
(which is a non-trivial setup burden today, especially for newcomers). The
ongoing maintenance surface is small and self-contained, it's one plugin
directory that can be updated, deprecated, or removed independently of
core, like any other plugin in that repo.
I still believe this small plugin will be a valuable addition to the
plugins directory and will benefit Apache OFBiz developers. With that in
mind, I plan to commit the devreload component to the plugins directory
sometime later this week.
--
Kind Regards,
Ashish Vijaywargiya
Vice President of Operations
*HotWax Systems*
*Enterprise open source experts*
http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
On Tue, Jul 7, 2026 at 12:19 PM gaetan.chaboussie via dev <
[email protected]> wrote:
Hi Ashish, Hi all.
I am still not ok with the idea of this code being merged in plugins
repo, i'm refering to this line you wrote :
I will be merging this "devreload" plugin sometime in the next week.
Again, IMO it shouldn't be the community's job to maintain this feature
considering the gain / work ratio.
Even if the code has been refactored and streamlined, it doesn't changes
my opinion.
Regards,
Gaetan.
On 7/6/26 16:06, Ashish Vijaywargiya wrote:
Hello All,
Here is the quick update on the "*devreload*" hot-reload plugin: the
two
separate Gradle commands have been merged into a single one.
Previously, there were two tasks, ./gradlew ofbizDev for stock-JDK
hot-reload and ./gradlew ofbizDevEnhanced for DCEVM-backed structural
hot-reload. Now there is just one task, ofbizDev, and enhanced mode is
a
flag on it.
./gradlew ofbizDev still starts OFBiz normally on a stock JDK,
hot-reloading method body edits and services.xml changes live, exactly
as
before.
./gradlew ofbizDev -Photreload.enhanced=true --no-watch-fs runs the
same
task on a DCEVM-patched JVM instead (JetBrains Runtime is auto-detected
from a local IntelliJ IDEA install, or point at one explicitly with
-PdcevmHome or DCEVM_HOME), additionally hot-swapping structural
changes
like new or removed methods live, with no restart.
Both modes still support component scoping via
-Photreload.components=compA,compB for a faster, narrower startup on
large
checkouts.
Under the hood, this is now a single JavaExec task rather than two
separate
task types, so enhanced mode also picks up JavaExec's built-in safety
nets,
like automatic classpath-argfile handling on Windows and --debug-jvm
support, which the old separate Exec-based task did not have.
No other behavior has changed. Full details are in
plugins/devreload/README.md.
https://github.com/ashishvijaywargiya/ofbiz-plugins/blob/add-devreload/devreload/README.md
And here is the PR that I created over the weekend.
https://github.com/apache/ofbiz-plugins/pull/316
--
Kind Regards,
Ashish Vijaywargiya
Vice President of Operations
*HotWax Systems*
*Enterprise open source experts*
http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
On Sat, Jul 4, 2026 at 6:34 PM Ashish Vijaywargiya <
[email protected]> wrote:
Thank you, Konstantinos Marinos, Jacques for sharing your thoughts.
Hello Gaetan,
I tried the HotSwap option available in IntelliJ IDEA.
Enable HotSwap Settings + DCEVM Plugin
File Watcher Plugin setup
CronJob setup so that it could manage your login information.
But it's trickier, confusing, and more lengthy to set up.
I dropped the idea of continuing with IntelliJ settings instead, and
continued with creating an independent plugin "devreload" for OFBiz.
Sharing more details below.
Hello Dev Community,
Wanted to share an update on the Java hot-reload tooling for OFBiz
development (the devreload plugin) that removes the restart-and-wait
cycle
when iterating on services, events, and services.xml files.
https://github.com/apache/ofbiz-plugins/pull/316
https://github.com/ashishvijaywargiya/ofbiz-plugins/tree/add-devreload/devreload
Based on the community feedback around not wanting framework-level
code
changes, I have moved everything into the devreload plugin itself —
there
are now zero changes required in ofbiz-framework.
Now the plugin is entirely self-contained: dropping plugins/devreload
into
a checkout (or removing it) has zero effect on the rest of OFBiz
either
way, since it hooks in purely through the standard component/container
discovery mechanism and the JVM's own Instrumentation API, with no
reflective bridge or hook anywhere in framework code.
The plugin provides two Gradle commands, both drop-in replacements for
the
normal ofbiz start command.
The two devreload commands
1. ./gradlew ofbizDev
What it does: Starts OFBiz normally (stock JDK), with hot-reload
active.
Java method-body edits and services.xml changes go live within ~300ms
of
saving, no restart. It cannot hot-swap structural changes (a brand-new
method, a removed method/field, a changed signature) — those still
require
a restart on a plain JDK.
2. ./gradlew ofbizDevEnhanced --no-watch-fs
What it does: Starts OFBiz on a JVM with enhanced class redefinition
support, instead of a stock JDK. On top of everything ofbizDev does,
it
additionally hot-swaps structural changes — a brand-new method, a
removed
method or field, a changed signature — live as well, with no restart.
The
--no-watch-fs flag is recommended on a full checkout to avoid a
directory-watch resource ceiling we found and root-caused during
testing.
Both commands also support optional component scoping via
-Photreload.components=compA,compB for a faster, narrower startup
while
working on a couple of components.
Both commands have been tested end to end, including editing existing
methods, editing services.xml, and adding brand-new methods and
services,
with all changes verified to take effect live without a restart.
I will be merging this "devreload" plugin sometime in the next week.
Please share your feedback on this whenever you can.
--
Kind Regards,
Ashish Vijaywargiya
Vice President of Operations
*HotWax Systems*
*Enterprise open source experts*
http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
On Thu, Jul 2, 2026 at 7:53 PM Konstantinos Marinos <
[email protected]>
wrote:
Hello Ashish,
thank you for your work on this feature. I personally find the
approach
very interesting.
Although I can see the point of view and the concerns raised by
Geatan,
offering extensive hot-reload capabilities directly from the
framework/tooling without relying on the IDE is for me a nice
addition.
After all, it is an extra option for developers that don't use
eclipse
or
Intellij - although I imagine they are a very small minority.
To the concern regarding "plugin" code residing inside the main
project,
I was wondering if there was an option for some "creative"
refactoring
where you bind your new classloader through properties or a similar
mechanism. Of course if any additional configuration is absent, it
should
default to the current implementation. In that case even your
DevReloadHook
class could live in the plugin and be picked up through a more
generalised
Interface that just provides the appropriate classloader.
This way no changes in the main project hint to the existence of the
dev
container plugin, but anyone can provide their own implementation of
a
"classloader provider" that modifies the standard classloading
behaviour
for java.
This is only an idea I had after looking at the modifications in
trunk. I
hope I was able to get my point across and that it addresses the
concerns
in this thread.
Best of luck with further development and the future adoption of this
functionality.
Konstantinos Marinos
On 2026/07/02 12:24:07 Ashish Vijaywargiya wrote:
Hello Jacques and Geatan,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. They were very helpful. 👍
I thought about my implementation again and updated it a bit. The
implementation (WatchService + in-process compiler + a child-first
classloader) lives entirely in a small plugin, published separately
at
https://github.com/ashishvijaywargiya/devreload. This plugin is
available
to anyone, and anyone can clone it if required.
I can also move it to the ofbiz-plugins folder if the community
members
agree to put the "devreload" component codebase there.
To make the framework pick up hot-reloaded classes when that plugin
is
present, I need a small footprint in ofbiz-framework itself: a
reflective
bridge, a small file DevReloadHook.java, plus one gated classloader
check
each in StandardJavaEngine and JavaEventHandler.
Branch for reference:
https://github.com/apache/ofbiz-framework/compare/trunk...ashishvijaywargiya:ofbiz-framework:dev-reload-container-support
Hopefully, now the changes in the "dev-reload-container-support"
branch
can
be merged into the OFBiz trunk code.
To demonstrate the feature, I have added a new field "comments2" on
the
form, and then made the changes in services.xml, and then made the
changes
in OfbizDemoServices.java file. The changes in services.xml and java
files
are reflected without restarting OFBiz.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1W5ILWVOSBD956GcDT50-GmZkV_seMNRv?usp=sharing
I have made the changes in a demo component -
https://github.com/ashishvijaywargiya/ofbizDemo.
Please let me know your thoughts on this.
I will also explore the HotSwap plugin in IntelliJ IDEA and get back
with
my thoughts.
Thank you.
--
Kind Regards,
Ashish Vijaywargiya
Vice President of Operations
*HotWax Systems*
*Enterprise open source experts*
http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
On Wed, Jul 1, 2026 at 9:49 PM Jacques Le Roux via dev <
[email protected]>
wrote:
Hi,
I tend to agree with Gaetan.
Jacques
Le 01/07/2026 à 09:18, gaetan.chaboussie via dev a écrit :
Hello Ashish, hello all.
First, thanks for the effort put into this. Seems like a lot of
work
(even if it looks like there has been some AI help on the code).
This being said, I'm not sure how i feel seeing a 'developer only'
intended feature in the project code.
I think that it's the IDE's job to provide this kind of feature.
In
my
experience, Eclipse handles it natively pretty well, and Intellij
is
making
great progress (and has a Hotsawp plugin that i personally use).
Also, i believe that it's precisely the point of GroovyScripts to
allow
editing without recompiling.
Although I understand the idea, I would personnaly not advise this
change, that creates low level code changes, and looks tricky to
maintain.
Gaetan.
On 6/30/26 18:03, Ashish Vijaywargiya wrote:
Hello OFBiz Dev Community,
I would like to share a prototype that removes the need to
restart
OFBiz
when developing Java services, events and service
definitions(services.xml).
Many years ago I came across Tomcat's reloadable="true" context
attribute.
When enabled, Tomcat's application deployer watches for class
file
changes
and
automatically reloads the web application — no server restart, no
manual
step. I always thought that was a great developer experience, and
at the
back of my mind I wondered whether something similar could be
done
in
OFBiz.
The standard Java change cycle in OFBiz today is:
edit .java → ./gradlew classes → kill OFBiz → wait 30-60 s →
restart →
test
Groovy scripts and Freemarker templates already pick up changes
without
a
restart; Java does not. This prototype brings the same
convenience
to
Java
development, specifically targeting *Services.java and
*Events.java
files
which are the ones developers touch most during active feature
work.
--- What it does ---
A new class called DevReloadContainer is added to framework/base.
It is
activated by passing -Dofbiz.hotreload=true on startup and does
three
things:
1. Watches build/classes/java/main/ for changed .class files and
hot-swaps them into a fresh class loader without
restarting
OFBiz.
In practice this means saving a *Services.java or
*Events.java
file
is enough — the change is live in under a second.
2. Watches all component servicedef/ directories and clears the
service
model cache when any *services.xml file changes, so new or
modified
service definitions are picked up immediately.
3. Watches all component src/main/java/ directories and compiles
changed
.java files in-process (using javax.tools.JavaCompiler),
so
you
do not
need a second terminal running ./gradlew -t classes.
A 300 ms debounce window batches a burst of file-save events
into a
single
reload, so rapid edits do not cause multiple reloads.
--- The new dev workflow ---
A new Gradle task wraps everything into one command:
./gradlew ofbizDev
Start OFBiz with that command, then edit any *Services.java,
*Events.java,
or *services.xml file and save — changes are live without any
restart.
The working code is on branch dev-reload-container-support.
https://github.com/ashishvijaywargiya/ofbiz-framework/tree/dev-reload-container-support
https://github.com/apache/ofbiz-framework/compare/trunk...ashishvijaywargiya:ofbiz-framework:dev-reload-container-support
The implementation went through several rounds of debugging and
covers 32 test cases including child-first class loading,
multi-cycle
reload correctness,
inner and anonymous class reloading, concurrent class loading,
malformed-bytecode handling, shutdown races, and the macOS
spurious-event
suppression.
Please review this feature and let me know your
thoughts/feedback.
And please report any issues you find.
Very soon, I will be creating a pull request for this feature.
I am hopeful that this feature will be helpful to all developers
who are
building enterprise applications using the Apache OFBiz project.
👍
Thank you.
--
Kind Regards,
Ashish Vijaywargiya
Vice President of Operations
*HotWax Systems*
*Enterprise open source experts*
http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
