[type-annos-observers] Annotations on extended dimension in method declarations.

Srikanth S Adayapalam srikanth_sankaran at in.ibm.com
Mon Jan 28 19:58:48 PST 2013


Mike, 

Here is the response from Markus Keller - JDT/UI lead on Eclipse. We would 
once again request
the EG to consider this request.

-----

Mike, I agree that there is a possibility that someone has to annotate 
code that uses extended dimensions in a method declaration. But the 
notation is already very little used (I haven't ever seen it in my life), 
and the chance that someone annotates code that still makes use of it is 
even smaller. The transition path is as simple as a copy-paste. The 
extended dimensions notation has no practical value. It only causes 
confusion.

On the other hand, every unnecessary language construct adds bloat to the 
language and makes it harder to use for everyone (readers, writers, tool 
implementers). The audience that is negatively affected by this addition 
is by magnitudes bigger than the small group of users who have to perform 
a simple copy-paste.

Note that I'm not asking to deprecate or even remove an existing language 
feature. I'm just asking to not add bloat for a language feature that has 
been acknowledged to have been a bad idea in the first place. The first 
version of the JLS already says explicitly that this form should not be 
used.

Let's apply good engineering principles and keep Java as simple as 
possible.

Thank you,
Markus Keller


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