[jdk11u-dev] RFR: 8248238: Implementation: JEP 388: Windows AArch64 Support [v8]

[Andrew Haley]

On Wed, 3 Nov 2021 10:57:57 GMT, Andrew Haley <aph at openjdk.org> wrote:

>> Apart from the (not so minor!) issue that the entire windows/aarch64 cannot be built unless the user provides a fixpath.exe binary in the repository root, the the build changes look okay, I guess. I can only wonder a bit how this is supposed to be solved. Even if a local developer can supply a custom-made fixpath.exe, this will prevent e.g. the automatic testing of windows/aarch64 on github actions (if you have those enabled for 11u).
>> 
>> Most of the changes would only affect windows/aarch64, and since that is a new platform, the risk to existing 11u platforms is zero for those changes. However, there are also some changes that will affect all platforms, or a subset of them (like Windows, or aarch64 in general). I *think* that these changes are okay, but I can't guarantee; I do not readily remember the details of the jdk 11 build code base vs the mainline.
>> 
>> If one wanted to be more cautious, a safer route is probable to leave the current platforms unaffected, and duplicate the code with the new implementation just for windows/aarch64.
>> 
>> But then again, I don't understand the JDK updates criteria anymore. I thought updates were for critical bug fixes only, not adding entirely new platforms.
>
>> But then again, I don't understand the JDK updates criteria anymore. I thought updates were for critical bug fixes only, not adding entirely new platforms.
> 
> I thing it's been a pretty long time since we were *that* strict. Longer than I can remember, anyway.
> The rule of thumb is that if we want older JDK releases to remain relevant, they have to be able to adapt to new platforms. So, we change JDK code for OS updates, compiler and library changes, and so on. Adding Windows/AArch64 is a pretty extreme case of that, but it's within the rule, but only just. After all, we already had Windows and we already had AArch64.

> Thanks so much for the review, @theRealAph. Could you please suggest someone as the other reviewer?

@adinn, I guess. I'm happy enough that Microsoft can check the Windows parts.

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PR: https://git.openjdk.java.net/jdk11u-dev/pull/301