JDK-8010179 : Remove transitional target values from javac
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Component: tools
  • Sub-Component: javac
  • Affected Version: 8
  • Priority: P3
  • Status: Closed
  • Resolution: Fixed
  • OS: generic
  • CPU: generic
  • Submitted: 2013-03-15
  • Updated: 2017-05-17
  • Resolved: 2013-03-19
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JDK 8
8 b84Fixed
Related Reports
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JDK-6966357 - javac 7 regression handling generic return type in Ini4J library
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JDK-6999210 - javac should be able to warn of anomalous conditions in classfiles
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JDK-8046172 - JEP 182: Policy for Retiring javac -source and -target Options
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JDK-7078419 - Java Compiler does not support -jsr14 created JAR files
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JDK-6817950 - refactor ClassReader to improve attribute handling
Description
The -target option of javac has supported a number of "transitional" values

* 1.4.2 (results in 48.0 class files with different code generation behavior)
* 1.4.1 (results in 48.0 class files with different code generation behavior)
* jsr14 (results in 48.0 class files with generics information)

The time has come for these transitional options to be transitioned out of the set of recognized targets.
Comments
Draft release notes text - JDK scope, behavioral change: Recognition of the undocumented target values "1.4.1", "1.4.2" and "jsr14" have been removed from javac. The "1.4.1" and "1.4.2" targets used more up-to-date code generation idioms than than "1.4". The combination of options "-source 1.4 -target 1.5" will use those newer idioms, but also output a more recent class file format. The "jsr14" option was a transitional private option for when generics were first being added to the platform. Now generics should be compiled with a target of 1.5 or higher.
19-03-2013