Proposed schedule change for JDK 9

[mark.reinhold at oracle.com]

As you probably know by now, the JCP Executive Committee (EC) recently
voted [1] not to approve JSR 376, the Java Platform Module System [2],
for the next stage of the process.

This vote does not mean that JSR 376 is dead, nor that Jigsaw has been
rejected.  It only means that the EC raised a number of concerns that it
wanted the JSR 376 Expert Group (EG) to address.  The JCP rules give the
EG thirty days, until 7 June, to submit a revised specification for a
second EC vote, which will end no later than 26 June [3].

The JSR 376 EG held a series of conference calls over the past two weeks
in order discuss the EC's concerns [4].  The net impact of those meetings
on JDK 9 itself was to clarify the specification of the module system's
resolution algorithm, work on which had already begun, and to add one
five-line method to the module-system API.  These changes, together with
additional clarifications to the JSR 376 and JSR 379 (Java SE 9) [5]
Specifications, will hopefully address the EC's concerns.

In order to be ready for all possible outcomes I suggest that here in the
JDK 9 Project we continue to work toward the current goal of producing an
initial Release Candidate build on 22 June [6], but adjust the GA date in
order to accommodate the additional time required to move through the JCP
process.  To be specific, I propose that we move the GA date out by eight
weeks, from 27 July to 21 September.

Comments on this proposal from JDK 9 Committers are welcome, as are
reasoned objections.  If no such objections are raised by 23:00 UTC next
Tuesday, 6 June, or if they're raised and satisfactorily answered, then
per the JEP 2.0 process proposal [7] this will be the new schedule for
JDK 9.

- Mark


[1] https://jcp.org/en/jsr/results?id=5959
[2] http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jigsaw/spec/
[3] https://www.jcp.org/en/procedures/jcp2#3.4.5
[4] http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jigsaw/spec/#Meeting-minutes
[5] http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jdk9/spec/
[6] http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jdk9/
[7] http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~mr/jep/jep-2.0-02.html