Why not get rid of versions?

[Remi Forax]

yes,
module versions are just metadata, as you said they are not needed by the JDK,
but jigsaw also wants to ease the interrop with module systems that does their resolution at runtime,
so IMO the JDK has to provide a way to query the version of a module at runtime.

Rémi

----- Mail original -----
> De: "Paul Benedict" <pbenedict at apache.org>
> À: "ML OpenJDK Jigsaw Developers" <jigsaw-dev at openjdk.java.net>
> Envoyé: Jeudi 24 Mars 2016 01:45:41
> Objet: Why not get rid of versions?
> 
> Based on today's discussions, I've been thinking if there is any merit in
> dumping the notion of Module Version altogether? I am beginning to think
> it's completely irrelevant to the Module System.
> 
> Versions are important during builds and for interacting with artifact
> repositories, but once artifacts are resolved and installed into the JDK as
> modules, versioning has no more utility. You don't even need Versions to
> link modules together. The only thing that is actually needed is the Module
> Name.
> 
> It looks like to me versions are metadata that belong outside the JDK and
> classfile format. I think a whole host of problems go away when the Version
> goes away. The JDK isn't an artifact manager so it doesn't need versions.
> 
> What do you think?
>