RFR: 8347063: Add comments in ClassFileFormatVersion for class file format evolution history [v2]

[Chen Liang]

On Tue, 7 Jan 2025 04:43:58 GMT, Joe Darcy <darcy at openjdk.org> wrote:

>> src/java.base/share/classes/java/lang/reflect/ClassFileFormatVersion.java line 58:
>> 
>>> 56:      *  2: ACC_STRICT modifier
>>> 57:      *  3: no changes
>>> 58:      *  4: no changes
>> 
>> The version mapping can be tricky here: is "1" 1.0 plus 1.1? I presume "2" is 1.2, "3" is 1.3.x, "4" is 1.4.x
>> 
>> Might be useful to include the actual JVMS classfile version numbers for ease of reference back to JVMS.
>
> I assume the wording implicitly is referring to the enum position, which uses a "RELEASE_$N" convention. However, I agree that adding the major version in some form would aid people more familiar with those numbers. One possibility:
> 
> 
> 3 (47.0) no changes
> 4 (48.0) no changes
> 
> 
> If that is adopted, perhaps the preview features could be listed with the minor version set.

How about versions like 1.1, ... 1.8, 9, ... which follows the since versions of libraries and should have no ambiguity?  I will commit if everyone agrees.

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PR Review Comment: https://git.openjdk.org/jdk/pull/22934#discussion_r1905830382