module-info-like syntax for modules.config

[Alex Buckley]

Alan Bateman wrote:
> Mark Reinhold wrote:
>> Hmm, but these aren't really deprecated APIs, they're private APIs
>> upon some unwise developers have come to depend.  How about naming
>> this module "private-legacy" or something like that?
>>   
> I think we have a mixture. For the sun.misc I think we've concluded that 
> it's too risky to remove them so we have been thinking of deprecating 
> them. Another suggestion is that we copy some of the single-use classes 
> to a more appropriate class and deprecate the class in sun.misc. In any 
> case, I'm easy on the name - I assume it will be grouped with other 
> modules containing legacy stuff.

A while ago, Jon and I wrote up some definitions such as:

An official   API is supported   and usable.
An unofficial API is unsupported and usable with a warning.
An internal   API is unsupported and unusable.

"Supported" means "exists in platform Javadoc and supported by Sun on
a long-term basis".

"Usable" means "access from outside the JDK succeeds". "Unusable"
means "access from outside the JDK causes a compile-time error".

We then made a stab at describing official, unofficial, and internal 
APIs circa JDK5, JDK6, and JDK7 in terms of the contents of files like 
legacy.properties, ct.sym, and rt.jar. Let me know if you think this 
info would be helpful.

Alex