Why is almost everything in the API final

[Richard Bair]

>> Final methods more so take the control out of the hands of the many developers, and places it in the hands of the API designers.
>> If there is an issue, and demands are high - would we rather 
>> 
>> A. Report the issue and wait for the original API designer's development process to acknowledge, repair, and release a fix?
>> 
>> -or-
>> 
>> B. Report the issue to begin the above process, and improvise a workable workaround that let's a developer continue on with their work?
>> 
>> I too observed the advantages of being able to do this in SWING countless times…
>> 
>> Just a thought…
>> 
> 
> In this case, since JavaFX is Free Software! you can actually suggest
> the fix, prototype and propose the patch yourself, limiting the round
> trip time substantially.
> 
> This also increases the chances to get a better fix in the end, since
> more eyes are focusing on it.

Or, when co-bundling the JRE with your app, you can provide whatever workaround you need to your copy of the JRE (just remove final from a few places or whatnot). Of course the cost comes when you need to upgrade to a newer version of FX, but if you gotta resort to one evil or another for the sake of shipping, this one at least leaves you in control.

Richard