CFV: New Project: Detroit

[Jaikiran Pai]

vote: yes


-Jaikiran

On 26/02/26 12:10 am, Maurizio Cimadamore wrote:
>
> Vote: yes!
>
>
> Maurizio
>
>
> On 25/02/2026 11:22, 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>
>>
>>
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