(from the phone)

Neat thing with jsonb as an api is you can décorateur it - even with CDI
and abstract decorator or interceptors - and migrate class by class, some
backed by jackson, other by whatever works


Romain Manni-Bucau
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Le jeu. 25 juin 2026, 09:42, Robert Stupp <[email protected]> a écrit :

> Hi Alex, Romain,
>
> Thanks, both.
>
> Alex, yes, I think we should eventually have the corresponding discussion
> on the Iceberg side as well.
> I would just prefer to first make the Polaris impact clear here:
> which Jackson usage is Polaris-owned, which usage is only test/distribution
> surface, and which usage is constrained by dependency APIs.
>
> On the Quarkus HTTP path: today Polaris registers Iceberg's REST
> serializers via the Quarkus ObjectMapper customizer:
>
>   RESTSerializers.registerAll(objectMapper)
>
> For the normal Quarkus REST Jackson path, I would expect Iceberg types such
> as ConfigResponse to go through that customized ObjectMapper path.
>
> The issue is that this is also the fragile part.
> With Quarkus REST's reflection-free serializer/deserializer optimization,
> Quarkus can use generated handling for request/response body types.
> We already saw that this is not equivalent for some Iceberg REST request
> types:
> create-namespace was one concrete case where the request body was not
> deserialized correctly.
>
> So I think there are two different milestones here:
>
> 1. Iceberg JSON support can run on Jackson 3.
> 2. Iceberg REST model types are self-describing enough that Quarkus
> generated
>    REST serializers/deserializers can handle them correctly without relying
> on
>    externally registered ObjectMapper modules for the core wire format.
>
> Those are related, but not the same.
>
> Romain, I agree that JSON-B/JSON-P is an interesting API-boundary direction
> in general.
> But I do not think it is the practical near-term answer for this issue.
> JSON-B helps when the runtime uses a JSON-B provider.
> JSON-P is lower-level JSON processing.
> Neither directly helps existing Iceberg code paths that use Jackson
> ObjectMapper/JsonMapper, nor consumers that rely on Iceberg's Jackson-based
> REST parsers and serializers.
>
> For this specific problem, I think the cleaner long-term shape is that the
> Iceberg REST model types become Jackson-self-describing:
> mostly regular Jackson annotations for properties/builders/naming, and only
> custom serializers where the wire format actually cannot be represented
> otherwise.
>
> That should also be compatible with a transition period.
> Many core Jackson annotations are still in
> `com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation` and work across Jackson 2/3.
> Where databind-specific annotations differ, the Jackson 2 and Jackson 3
> annotations can be duplicated on the model types if needed.
>
> Polaris could work around this with local wrapper DTOs/adapters.
> Nessie has a model like that and it works with Quarkus 3.37 and
> reflection-free serializers.
> The difference is that Nessie owns that path end-to-end and can handle
> those types directly.
> Polaris is much more tied to Iceberg's REST model types and services, so
> introducing a local shadow model here would be a bigger local ownership
> decision.
>
> The drift argument is still real: if Polaris re-implements Iceberg REST
> payload types locally, we have to keep that model aligned with Iceberg's
> REST API over time.
> That may be doable, but I would rather not make it the default answer if
> the Iceberg REST model types can become self-describing instead.
>
> So my current view is:
>
> - short term: keep migrating Polaris-owned JSON usage where it is isolated
> and
>   testable
> - short term: track Iceberg REST model handling as dependency-constrained
> - longer term: discuss in Iceberg whether the REST model types can move
> toward a
>   self-describing Jackson annotation model, so consumers do not need
> externally
>   registered manual serializers for basic REST request/response
> correctness.
>
> That would make a future Quarkus 4/Jackson 3 upgrade much less risky for
> Polaris.
>
> Robert
>
> On Wed, Jun 24, 2026 at 11:06 PM Romain Manni-Bucau <[email protected]
> >
> wrote:
>
> > Hi guys,
> >
> > maybe encouraging JSON-P+JSON-B as API then any vendor/impl can pick its
> > preferred vendor can be a neat choice for the future instead of relying
> > deeply on jackson?
> > quarkus already supports it and work in iceberg is not crazy - not
> speaking
> > of the community discussion not spark and friends integrations ;)
> >
> > Romain Manni-Bucau
> > @rmannibucau <https://x.com/rmannibucau> | .NET Blog
> > <https://dotnetbirdie.github.io/> | Blog <https://rmannibucau.github.io/
> >
> > | Old
> > Blog <http://rmannibucau.wordpress.com> | Github
> > <https://github.com/rmannibucau> | LinkedIn
> > <https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmannibucau> | Book
> > <
> >
> https://www.packtpub.com/en-us/product/java-ee-8-high-performance-9781788473064
> > >
> > Javaccino founder (Java/.NET service - contact via linkedin)
> >
> >
> > Le mer. 24 juin 2026 à 18:03, Alexandre Dutra <[email protected]> a
> écrit
> > :
> >
> > > Hi Robert,
> > >
> > > Your approach looks good to me. If we can avoid the giant Quarkus-4 PR
> > > and introduce the changes gradually, that's a very valuable option.
> > >
> > > I would like though to have a better understanding of the situation
> > > regarding Iceberg REST serializers, which are still Jackson 2:
> > >
> > > - Should we engage with the Iceberg community and start a migration
> > > discussion there as well?
> > >
> > > - How would the HTTP layer in Quarkus 4 serialize an Iceberg type,
> > > e.g. ConfigResponse? Would it use Iceberg's ConfigResponseSerializer,
> > > or something else?
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Alex
> > >
> > > On Wed, Jun 24, 2026 at 4:42 PM Robert Stupp <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hi everyone,
> > > >
> > > > I would like to start a discussion about Jackson 3 readiness for
> > Polaris.
> > > >
> > > > This is not about upgrading Polaris to Quarkus 4 right now.
> > > > Polaris is still on Quarkus 3, and I do not think we should turn this
> > > into
> > > > a big platform-upgrade thread.
> > > >
> > > > But Quarkus 4 is expected to move to Jackson 3.
> > > > The current public roadmap mentions Jackson 3 as part of Quarkus 4,
> > with
> > > > Beta 1 tentatively around September 2026 and GA around November 2026.
> > > >
> > > > I think that matters for Polaris because Jackson is not only used in
> > > > isolated helper code.
> > > > Quarkus also owns important runtime paths for us, including REST
> > > > request/response mapping.
> > > > Once we move to Quarkus 4, Jackson 3 is expected to be on that path.
> > > >
> > > > We already have a smaller example showing why this is not just a
> > > > theoretical dependency cleanup.
> > > > In the Quarkus 3.37 work, Polaris currently has to keep the Quarkus
> > REST
> > > > Jackson reflection-free serializer optimization disabled.
> > > > With that optimization enabled, the generated REST JSON path does not
> > > > behave the same as the customized ObjectMapper path for some Iceberg
> > REST
> > > > request types.
> > > > One concrete symptom was namespace creation deserializing
> incorrectly.
> > > >
> > > > That is not a Jackson 3 bug by itself.
> > > > But it is a good reminder that the exact Quarkus/Jackson REST
> > integration
> > > > path matters for Polaris correctness.
> > > >
> > > > I have started splitting out a few smaller Jackson 3 preparation PRs
> > > > already.
> > > > The idea is to reduce the local migration surface where we can do
> that
> > > > safely:
> > > >
> > > > - migrate small Polaris-internal serializers/deserializers first;
> > > > - keep the JSON wire format stable and covered by tests;
> > > > - avoid mixing behavior changes into the migration;
> > > > - leave dependency-constrained areas on Jackson 2 until the
> dependency
> > > path
> > > > is clear.
> > > >
> > > > I think this is lower risk than waiting until a future Quarkus 4
> > upgrade
> > > PR
> > > > has to solve everything at once.
> > > >
> > > > There are still areas where Polaris depends on libraries that expose
> or
> > > use
> > > > Jackson 2 JSON mapping APIs.
> > > > Iceberg is one important example, because Polaris relies on Iceberg
> > types
> > > > and REST-related model handling.
> > > >
> > > > I do not think the Polaris dev list is the place to decide Iceberg's
> > > > dependency policy.
> > > > But I do think Polaris should track this as a Quarkus 4 readiness
> > > > constraint, so we know which parts are Polaris-owned and which parts
> > are
> > > > blocked on dependency APIs.
> > > >
> > > > My proposed direction is:
> > > >
> > > > 1. Treat Jackson 3 readiness as encouraged for new Polaris-internal
> > JSON
> > > > code.
> > > > 2. Accept focused PRs that migrate isolated Polaris code paths to
> > > Jackson 3
> > > >    when tests show the JSON contract stays stable.
> > > > 3. Avoid introducing new Jackson 2 usage unless a dependency API
> > requires
> > > > it.
> > > > 4. Track remaining Jackson 2 usage by category: Polaris-owned,
> > > >    dependency-constrained, test-only, and distribution/license-only.
> > > > 5. Use that tracking to identify what must be resolved before a
> > Quarkus 4
> > > > upgrade
> > > >    becomes practical.
> > > >
> > > > This does not need to be a vote.
> > > > I am mostly looking for agreement on the direction and on how we want
> > to
> > > > track the remaining blockers.
> > > >
> > > > Does this sound like the right approach?
> > > >
> > > > Robert
> > >
> >
>

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