Can javac 11 compile for Java 6 / 7?

[joe darcy]

Hello,

The behavior (and existence) of the --release, -source, and -target 
options to javac is a property of the JDK implementation rather than the 
Java SE specification. In other words, a distributor of the JDK could in 
principle offer a superset or a subset of the valid arguments to the 
--release, -source, and -target options than are valid in the unchanged 
OpenJDK sources.

Oracle has previously announced our intention to align the feature set 
of Oracle's JDK and OpenJDK. That alignment would include the set of 
--release, -source, and -target flags.

Cheers,

-Joe


On 3/25/2018 3:03 PM, Sven Reimers wrote:
> Hi,
>
> my understanding was LTS is an Oracle decision not OpenJDK. So should 
> the policy reflect the Oracle lifecycle or the general OpenJDK 6 month 
> cycle?
>
> Thanks for clarifying
>
> Sven
>
> joe darcy <joe.darcy at oracle.com <mailto:joe.darcy at oracle.com>> schrieb 
> am So., 25. März 2018, 20:34:
>
>     On 3/25/2018 2:52 AM, Naman <> NullPointer wrote:
>     > Just to support that this is stated in the JEP-182 [1], which
>     might need an
>     > edit if the policy is not followed or updated with JDK 10.
>     >
>     > JDK 9 will implement a "one plus three back" support policy
>     meaning that 1.9
>     >> /9, 1.8/8, 1.7/7, and 1.6/6 will be recognized in that release.
>     That
>     >> policy will continue in JDK 10.
>
>     More specifically, the comment in the underlying bug states:
>
>     "Note that with the six month release cadence
>     (http://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/discuss/2017-September/004281.html)
>     being used starting with JDK 10, the chronological range covered
>     by "one
>     plus three back" would be much shortened. In due course, this policy
>     will be updated accordingly, possibly taking into account LTS
>     (long term
>     support) releases and possibly offering a sparse set of values. For
>     example, one possible policy would be to support the last two LTS
>     release and each release after the most recent LTS, but not the
>     releases
>     between those two LTS releases. "
>
>     https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8046172?focusedCommentId=14145783&page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel#comment-14145783
>
>     In other words, it is possible JDK 11 will ship with a different
>     set of
>     support source, target, and --release values than it has now.
>
>     HTH,
>
>     -Joe
>