Review request: update javac to properly output mandated parameters in MethodParameters attributes

[Maurizio Cimadamore]

I agree with John - also, to my knowledge, all compilers out there treat 
private class/non-private class in the same way - i.e. by adding an 
extra constructor parameter for accepting the enclosing instance.

Maurizio

On 13/02/13 06:22, John Rose wrote:
> On Feb 12, 2013, at 5:50 PM, Alex Buckley <alex.buckley at oracle.com 
> <mailto:alex.buckley at oracle.com>> wrote:
>
>> Per the new discussion in JLS 8.8.9 which appears in 8misc.pdf, it is 
>> possible for a _non-private_ inner member class to be instantiated by 
>> code in a totally different compilation unit, _compiled by a 
>> different compiler than compiled the inner member class_. 
>
> Since even private member classes have mandated names, it is possible 
> to use reflection (with access control overrides as needed) to attempt 
> to instantiate even private member classes.  This suggests to me that 
> 'private' might not be enough isolation to allow complete freedom 
> to the compiler.
>
> On the other hand, non-member classes (anonymous and locals) do not 
> have mandated bytecode names (there is always a $[0-9]+ component in 
> the name), so it is reasonable to say none of the constructors and/or 
> arguments need to have any mandated structure.
>
> I realize that the JLS is one step away from reflective APIs, but 
> there is a logical connection here, since the Core Reflection API 
> claims to be able to (a) replicate legal member accesses, and (b) 
> override access protection modifiers ('private' etc.).
>
>> Hence the mandated parameter which allows all compilers to reify the 
>> immediately enclosing instance. But a _private_ inner member class 
>> can only be instantiated within the same compilation unit, so it's 
>> the compiler's choice how to reify the immediately enclosing instance 
>> in that case, and I believe javac has always used ACC_SYNTHETIC for 
>> that class's default ctor.
>
> It's always used ACC_SYNTHETIC but that doesn't mean that ACC_MANDATED 
> would be better for some bits of the puzzle.
>
> — John
>
> P.S. Do we still mandate names of certain inner class fields, such as 
> 'this$NNN'?  The original motivation for this was to allow debuggers a 
> somewhat easier time presenting compiler-generated data structures.
>
> It's a stretch, but it might be reasonable to require that the names 
> of the constructor parameters match the names of the concrete private 
> class fields they initialize.

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