Views on JSR 376 from the Eclipse JDT team

[Mike Milinkovich]

Mark,

You are comparing apples to oranges. The Eclipse Compiler for Java is neither a tool, nor a framework. It is the other Java compiler. The one that needs to actually rely on the specification, as opposed to Oracle's implementation. 

The whole purpose of the JCP is to enable independent implementations, such as ecj. If the specs don't do so, we might as well just disband the whole facade. 

The Eclipse JDT team has worked extremely hard  throughout the entire Java 9 development cycle to overcome incomplete and ambiguous specifications. Their efforts have made the spec much better than it would be otherwise. 

I can appreciate the schedule and business pressures you're under, but your attempts to shift the blame for this situation to others are  counter-productive. 

Mike Milinkovich
mike.milinkovich at eclipse.org
+1.613.220.3223

> On May 6, 2017, at 3:49 PM, mark.reinhold at oracle.com wrote:
> 
> 2017/5/6 9:56:12 -0700, stephan.herrmann at berlin.de:
>> Alex,
>> 
>> I appreciate your answers to our questions, which give hope
>> that a future version - incorporating all this - will be sufficient
>> for defining what is Java 9 from a compiler's perspective.
>> 
>> The post sent by Markus explicitly refers to the specification
>> as it was submitted for public review, which is not sufficient
>> in several regards.
>> 
>> I see two reasons for insisting in this distinction:
>> 
>> It is necessary to call out that JSR 376 is again behind schedule,
>> putting third party implementors under extreme time pressure,
>> to the degree that a compliant implementation may not be possible
>> on the currently scheduled release date.
>> 
>> Only once we hold in our hands a specification that has all the
>> missing parts integrated and that has passed some level of QA,
>> it is possible to confirm whether all the pieces fit together
>> in a coherent, consistent and sufficient way.
>> 
>> (This is my personal view as an individual contributor to Eclipse JDT)
> 
> Stephan,
> 
> Thanks for expressing your concerns.
> 
> The maintainers of many libraries, frameworks, and tools have been able
> to keep up with the latest developments in JPMS and Jigsaw in real time,
> on this list and elsewhere.  Some of them are ready for JDK 9 now, and
> more will be ready by JDK 9 GA or shortly thereafter.
> 
> You and Markus seem to be saying that since the Eclipse JDT team can
> only really get started when they have a specification that's complete
> in every detail then the rest of the Java community must wait.  Is that
> what you mean?
> 
> I understand that Eclipse is important, but is it important enough to
> hold up the release for everyone else?
> 
> - Mark