[beanutils][lang][PROPOSAL] deprecated beanutils version of MethodUtils

[robert burrell donkin]

PROPOSAL
========

there are versions of the MethodUtils code in two components - beanutils and lang.

i'd prefer not to have to maintain two versions of this code. it makes no sense to have bugs fixed in beanutils but not in lang or vice versa. there are also performance improvements and API enhancements that i'd like to see added but i don't want to have to make these changes in two places.

now, we are finally in a position to consolidate the reflection code from beanutils into lang and this is what i'm proposing we do.


actions required:

make beanutils dependent on lang
--------------------------------
this is quite a major change and introduces a new dependency for all beanutils clients. however, lang itself is small and there is a commitment to keep lang dependencies to a minimum (at the moment, lang has no dependencies.)

deprecate MethodUtils
---------------------
the version of MethodUtils in beanutils would be deprecated. a new implementation of the methods in MethodUtils would delegate the execution to the version in lang.

copy test cases
---------------
the test cases would remain in beanutils and would test that the new delegated version of MethodUtils has not introduced any new bugs. to ensure that changes to the version of MethodUtils in lang do not introduce changes that have to be caught by gump, the existing unit tests for MethodUtils should be copied into lang.

documentation
-------------
documentation for reflection should be consolidated into lang and should be improved.

i'm willing to make these changes. i am also willing to help to maintain and improve the code in lang if the lang team are happy to have me as a committer.

since this change will mean quite a bit of work and will introduce a new dependency for beanutils, i'd rather not rely on lazy consensus. obviously i'm +1.

- robert


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