What time frame are you thinking of for all this? I was a bit naive
thinking we could easily switch to 5.
In order to make TaskManager progress, I need to pick a runAfter
parameter type. While things are in flux, I think I'll go with
Collection<Task>, so I can work with the jsr14 hack.
If we go to 5 for the thread package, I can do a refactoring pass to
change to Iterable<Task>. There are a lot fewer runAfter declarations
because of the switch to an abstract class with a default implementation.
Patricia
On 9/13/2010 6:26 PM, Peter Firmstone wrote:
Some time back, we voted to include Java 5 language features.
We didn't vote to drop support for Java 1.4 at the time and I was
considering different options for ongoing maintenance support of Java 1.4.
The last release 2.1.2, still supports Java 1.4
What I'd like to consider is that the previous branch be used to
maintain support for Java 1.4 and our next release only support Java 1.5
onward. However an additional requirement of a distributed platform
release, is that it plays nicely with existing Java 1.4 installations,
which means smart proxy's still need to be compiled in Java 1.4 bytecode
(and perhaps Service API). Service API will be already installed in the
clients local classpath for Java 1.4 installations, but the smart proxy
code depends on Service API and won't compile if they're Java 1.5.
So while Serialization compatibility is maintained across releases, we
just need to have compatible bytecode.
Perhaps with maven provisioning there could be an opportunity for
clients to select platform compatible bytecode at some time in the future.
I guess we need to figure out how to compile the majority of classes
using "1.5", while compiling proxy classes using "1.4".
It is possible I think, to specify different class paths in the client
jvm's of the test suite, so potentially we could test the current
distribution with clients using the previous release and Java 1.4, while
the server uses Java 5 or 6.
This might require a separate release of the Test Suite, this would be
useful to test binary compatibility also, very important in a
distributed environment.
This allows a migration path away from Java 1.4.
"jsr14" is a build hack.
To achieve this, I think we'll need to change the way we currently
package River, to be more modular along the lines Dan Rollo has suggested.
This might also be an opportunity to break out the Service
Implementations into separate components or subprojects perhaps, each
depending on the platform and test kit and each having it's own tests.
Allowing one to develop on a small component of the platform and run
only relevant tests, for faster feedback. All components might be
assembled and run on Hudson.
Possible Components:
Service API. (Java 1.4)
Jini Platform (depends on Service API) (Java 5)
Jini libraries. (Java 5)
Jini Security Policy.
Test Kit
Jini Compatibility Tests.
Reggie
Mahalo
Outrigger
Phoenix
Fiddler
Norm
Mercury
A client developer then only needs the Platform and Service API jar's.
Then when someone creates their own djinn, they can add the services as
they require them, reducing complexity for new developers.
Regards,
Peter.
Patricia Shanahan wrote:
Found it. common.xml contains a macro definition, javac-cmd, which I
believe does the actual compilation. It defaults the -target parameter
to "jsr14". Changing it to "1.5" allows my Iterable construct to
compile, but should continue generation of java 1.5 compatible code.
"jsr14" was an interim mode for experimentation with the 1.5 features
on a 1.4 JVM. It does support for-each for a Collection, but not
Iterable, which was added in 1.5, which explains my problem.
Any class files that work on 1.4 should also work on 1.5, explaining
Peter's observation.
Should River continue 1.4 support? If yes, we need to test on 1.4, as
well as 5, 6, and potentially 7. Note that there may be a performance
price, such as less efficient autoboxing code. If no, we should change
the target default to "1.5".
Patricia
On 9/13/2010 3:38 PM, Patricia Shanahan wrote:
....
Here's a theory. There is some parameter (or parameters) we don't know
about being passed to javac as part of the ant all.build that affects
the compiler's personality. It is generating 1.5 compatible code, and
rejecting a construct that I think should be accepted.
...
On 9/13/2010 1:16 PM, Peter Firmstone wrote:
[java] -----------------------------------------
[java]
[java] # of tests started = 581
[java] # of tests completed = 581
[java] # of tests skipped = 21
[java] # of tests passed = 581
[java] # of tests failed = 0
[java]
[java] -----------------------------------------
[java]
[java] Date finished:
[java] Tue Sep 14 01:08:05 EST 2010
[java] Time elapsed:
[java] 19953 seconds
[java]
BUILD SUCCESSFUL
Total time: 332 minutes 40 seconds
These test results are from qa.run executing on Java 5, so I was
expecting some test failures, knowing that the test suite doesn't
compile with JDK 1.5.
