RFR: JDK-8295071: Spec Clarification : ClassFileFormatVersion: System property java.class.version | Java class format version number [v3]

[Joe Darcy]

On Mon, 5 Jun 2023 21:39:49 GMT, Iris Clark <iris at openjdk.org> wrote:

> The decimal integer should be unsigned and without leading zeros. A regex similar to that provided by Runtime.Version would make things clear. I think that Mandy's suggestion would be a reasonable alternative as the Java class file version number isn't truly arbitrary.

A quick note on API philosophy, in its current version the PR proposes to go from very imprecise information:

"Java class format version number"

to to moderate level of precision:

"Latest Java class file format version recognized by the Java runtime as "MAJOR.MINOR" where MAJOR and MINOR are both formatted as decimal integers"

Especially given the terse description of most of the property keys, I don't think grammar-level detailing is necessary in this context.

For example, to me the specification of, say, Method.toString is unhelpful to the reader since the gist of the semantics are overwhelmed with details as if the primary consumer was a parser rather than a human reader.

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PR Review Comment: https://git.openjdk.org/jdk/pull/14305#discussion_r1218767482