Value types - compatibility with existing “value objects”

[Peter Levart]

On 01/08/2015 02:50 PM, Vitaly Davidovich wrote:
> Why do you want string to be value type? What problem (s) will that
> address?

String as a value type would eliminate one indirection. If would 
effectively become an immutable char[] with a bunch of operations.

Peter

>
> Sent from my phone
> On Jan 8, 2015 7:04 AM, "Palo Marton" <palo.marton at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Thank you for response. I have read that thread. But apart from first few
>> messages it seems to deal with something else - mutable types.
>>
>> My idea with rewriting String as value is not about changing meaning of
>> java.lang.String. That identifier should still mean heap object with
>> identity, null, etc... The idea is to give a new name for string value,
>> e.g. java.lang.string (lowercase s), or just "string". So "String" will be
>> boxed version of "string" and all old pre-value-types code will use only
>> boxed objects as before and there will be no semantic change. In new code
>> you will use "string" in most cases, but you can use also "String" in
>> places where you need it.
>>
>>  From what I have read there are no plans to support something like that. Am
>> I right?
>>
>> Reason why I am asking this is that some time ago I was thinking about
>> value types in java and how they should be implemented in JVM. My idea
>> about how to implement it in JVM was somehow different, but it can support
>> this old-code / new-code compatibility.
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 8, 2015 at 11:42 AM, Richard Warburton <
>> richard.warburton at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Will it be possible (within valhalla) to rewrite java String as value
>> type
>>>> in JDK and use it in all places in JDK where it makes sense? (eg.
>>>> Class.forName(string), Object.toString(), Integer.parseInt(string). …)
>>>>
>>>> Or more general question:
>>>>
>>>> There are already plenty of “value objects” in existing java code. In
>> JDK
>>>> we have, String, File, Point2D,... Also many people have already
>> declared
>>>> their own class Point { final x,y; } and similar objects. Once we move
>> to
>>>> value types in java, will it be possible to rewrite these to value types
>>>> without breaking compatibility with old pre-value-types code? E.g. if I
>>>> change my Point object to value type in my library, can this new library
>>>> (jar) still be used in other projects that were written before this
>>>> change?
>>>> And without need to recompile those other projects?
>>>
>>> See this thread:
>>>
>> http://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/valhalla-dev/2015-January/000546.html
>>> regards,
>>>
>>>    Richard Warburton
>>>
>>>    http://insightfullogic.com
>>>    @RichardWarburto <http://twitter.com/richardwarburto>
>>>
>>>