Our experience at Google has been that javac7 is a stricter compiler than javac6. It is a significant effort migrating from javac6 to javac7 with a large code base. Since openjdk6 is all about stability, I would resist updating the javac in openjdk6. Some of the "bugs" in javac6 allow user code to compile successfully!
On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 1:47 PM, Jonathan Gibbons < jonathan.gibb...@oracle.com> wrote: > On 03/13/2013 12:47 PM, Andrew Hughes wrote: > >> 4. Finally, this is just a thought, and I realise it may run contrary to >> your >> promise of long-term stability and compatibility, but I've been giving >> some thought >> to the long running issues we've had with javac in OpenJDK 6. For those >> who are >> unaware, the javac in OpenJDK 6 is not the same as in Oracle's >> proprietary JDK 6, >> but rather an early development version of the one used in OpenJDK 7. >> I've been >> wondering if the best way of supporting this long-term would be to use >> the tools >> from 7 in OpenJDK 6, with appropriate reversions to make it compatible >> with 6 >> (defaulting to 6 source/target, having builds pass the 6 TCK), rather >> than continuing >> to maintain the hybrid we have now. This would also mean we'd be able to >> benefit >> more directly from any bug fixes or security updates directed at the >> langtools >> present in 7. >> > > You might want to bring this up on compiler-dev. > > -- Jon >
