Bug ID: JDK-4644224 BreakIterator should allow use for programming languages

Type: Enhancement
Component: core-libs
Sub-Component: java.text
Affected Version: 1.4.0

Priority: P4
Status: Resolved
Resolution: Fixed
OS: generic
CPU: generic

Submitted: 2002-02-27
Updated: 2005-04-25
Resolved: 2005-04-25

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JDK 6
6 b34Fixed

Name: nl37777			Date: 02/27/2002

The class description for java.text.BreakIterator says:
"BreakIterator is intended for use with natural languages only. Do not
use this class to tokenize a programming language."

This seems like an unnecessary limitation. It would be correct to say
that the various get*Instance methods of the class can only return break
iterators for natural languages because they take a Locale argument, and
locales can only specify natural languages. However, there seems to be
no reason why the BreakIterator interface couldn't also be implemented
to provide breaking information for a programming language. Such a break
iterator would be very useful, for example, in the implementation of a
program editor based on the Swing text components.

The class description should be changed to remove this limitation.
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