[OpenJDK 2D-Dev] RFR: 8250855: Address reliance on default constructors in the Java 2D APIs

[Kevin Rushforth]

It is an anti-pattern to rely on an implicit default constructor in a 
publicly exported class in a library. There are (at least) three good 
reasons to avoid this:

1. The default constructor will have no API docs

2. You could end up with a public constructor in a class where you don't 
want a publicly visible constructor, for example a class with factory 
methods.

3. In a class where you do intend a public constructor, if you later add 
another constructor with an argument, it will have the effect of 
removing the default one, which is an incompatible API change.

-- Kevin

On 9/16/2020 11:53 PM, Peter Hull wrote:
> Just for my curiosity, what issues can arise relying on default 
> constructors? I couldn't find anything with google (apart from links 
> back to these messages!)
> Thanks,
> Peter