[OpenJDK 2D-Dev] Openjdk java2d rasterizer JEP for pisces (marlin) enhancements ?

[Roman Kennke]

Am Donnerstag, den 19.02.2015 um 15:25 +0100 schrieb dalibor topic:
> 
> On 19.02.2015 13:50, Mario Torre wrote:
> 
> > The code is part of an OpenJDK project, though, it's already the
> > existing Java rasterizer.
> 
> It's not part of an OpenJDK Project - Project with an upper case 'P'. 
> See http://openjdk.java.net/projects/ for details. Considering the 
> motivation for this discussion, that would be a necessary precondition.
> 
> > Of course I'm fine with giving it a formal home in the Graphics
> > Rasterizer project (where it naturally belongs), but let's also try to
> > be a bit more pragmatic, this code is in hold since more than one year
> > now, the JEP process can be started before giving a formal home, or at
> > least concurrently to that.
> 
> While the JEP process is explicitly open even to aggressive, 
> outside-the-box, and even completely wacky ideas, new feature ideas 
> often require significant up-front research, experimentation, and 
> socialization before they're ready to be proposed as enhancements to the 
> JDK itself.

Socialization seems to be the major pain point here ;-)

It seems that the project is already fairly well advanced, and, from
what I hear, used in production code in some places already, where it
seems to outperform the pisces rasterizer.

The impact of including it in OpenJDK seems to be fairly small: it is an
implementation of an existing SPI, and there's no need to make it the
*default* right away. It can be included and live side-by-side and
require some runtime flag to get it enabled. And when enough testing has
been done, eventually switched to default.

> That work is typically performed within an OpenJDK Project.

I agree that it'd be good to bring Marlin into the Rasterizer project
(which otherwise appeared to be an orphaned project anyway...) Why not
go both routes in parallel: propose inclusion into the Rasterizer
project, and start discussing a JEP. I see no problem with that.

> Such work would have to take the time it takes either way. I believe 
> that focusing on writing JEPs before such work is complete (or even 
> begun) means setting one's priorities in a way that puts the cart before 
> the horse. You can certainly chose to do that, but the cart might not 
> get very far on its own. [0]

Well, dunno, it just seems pragmatic to me. If anything, OpenJDK could
need a little more agility and welcomeness to contributions, especially
if they provide such massive improvements, and has already been tested
outside OpenJDK for quite a while (exactly because it got stuck in
OpenJDK's processes).

Regards,
Roman