The role of submodules

[Erik Joelsson]

Hello,

While working with the jigsaw build, I can't help but wonder what the 
reason for the submodules concept is. In the old build, each area is 
assigned a "MODULE", which isn't a full module name, but something 
shorter. All artifacts produced in an area, like libraries and lib 
files, automatically get copied to a sub directory of the submodules 
outputdir. Then in the modularization step, the contents of these 
submodules is copied to the final (real) modules according to a 
configured pattern. (ex: base -> jdk.base, javac -> jdk.tools)

Is there a reason to keep this model going forward, or can we assign 
things their final module name directly in the new build? I would like 
to minimize copying files around for no apparent reason if possible.

/Erik