Re-specification and re-abstraction

[Brian Goetz]

[ oops, hit reply too soon ]

>> Looking from the perspective of code evolution: if an interface method
>> was abstract (non-default) at the start

I think the point you're missing is: when is the start?  At the time 
many of the classes involved were written, the notion of a default 
interface method didn't exist.  At the start, NO methods had defaults.

If we were started over from scratch with a new language, considerations 
of "existing code does ... which means ..." would be irrelevant.  But 
we're not in that world.