CFV: New Project: Detroit

[Vladimir Kozlov]

Vote: yes

On 2/25/26 3:22 AM, Sundararajan Athijegannathan wrote:
> I hereby propose the (re)creation of the Detroit Project, with myself as
> the Lead and the Compiler Group as the sponsoring Group.
> 
> The Detroit Project was originally created in February 2018 [1], with
> the intent to develop an implementation of the JCP-standard javax.script
> API [2][3] based on the V8 JavaScript engine [4].  This would enable
> JavaScript to be used as an extension language for Java applications,
> and likewise Java libraries to be accessed from JavaScript applications.
> The Project never got off the ground, however, so it was dissolved in
> September 2024 [5].
> 
> Here in February 2026, there is still interest in using Java and
> JavaScript together.  With the rise of AI, moreover, there is also
> interest in accessing AI functionality written in Python from Java
> applications.
> 
> Some colleagues and I have therefore revived the original prototype
> JavaScript script engine based on V8, and have also prototyped a Python
> script engine based on CPython [6].  Using widely-adopted JavaScript
> and Python implementations, rather than re-implementing JavaScript and
> Python from scratch, ensures both low long-term maintenance costs and
> compatibility for existing JavaScript and Python code.
> 
> We would like to move these prototypes into a proper OpenJDK Project
> in order to accelerate development.  We expect to leverage and push
> the boundaries of the FFM API [7], so this work will likely influence
> Project Panama.  Over time, the Project may consider implementing
> script engines for additional languages.
> 
> The initial Committers will be:
> 
>    Jim Laskey
>    Sundararajan Athijegannathan
>    Jorn Vernee
>    Mikael Vidstedt
>    Henry Jen
>    Maurizio Cimadamore
>    Alan Bateman
>    Hannes Wallnöfer
>    Jan Lahoda
>    Jaikiran Pai
> 
> Votes are due by midnight UTC on Wednesday, 11 March.
> 
> Only current OpenJDK Members [8] are eligible to vote on this motion.
> Votes must be cast in the open on the discuss list.  Replying to this
> message is sufficient if your mail program honors the Reply-To header.
> 
> For Lazy Consensus voting instructions, see [9].
> 
> Sundar
> 
> 
> [1] https://mail.openjdk.org/pipermail/announce/2018- 
> February/000244.html <https://mail.openjdk.org/pipermail/announce/2018- 
> February/000244.html>
> [2] https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/25/docs/api/java.scripting/ 
> javax/script/package-summary.html <https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/ 
> javase/25/docs/api/java.scripting/javax/script/package-summary.html>
> [3] https://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=223 <https://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail? 
> id=223>
> [4] https://v8.dev <https://v8.dev>
> [5] https://mail.openjdk.org/pipermail/compiler-dev/2024- 
> September/027645.html <https://mail.openjdk.org/pipermail/compiler- 
> dev/2024-September/027645.html>
> [6] https://github.com/python/cpython <https://github.com/python/cpython>
> [7] https://openjdk.org/jeps/454 <https://openjdk.org/jeps/454>
> [8] http://openjdk.java.net/census#members <http://openjdk.java.net/ 
> census#members>
> [9] http://openjdk.java.net/projects/#new-project-vote <http:// 
> openjdk.java.net/projects/#new-project-vote>
> 
>