A big advantage of Java 1.6 over 1.5 is that the @Override annotation also works on methods that come from an interface. That eases refactoring a lot.
Java 1.6 also comes with a slightly improved Collections framework. Is that enough to warrant a jump to 1.6? Probably not. Several people have already expressed their feelings against jumping to 1.6 anyway. Moving on to 1.5 is what counts most IMO. Vincent On 21/10/10 06:34, Jeremias Maerki wrote: > By now, I agree that Java 1.4 as a minimum requirement doesn't make much > sense anymore. We have given people enough of a transition period. Many > Apache projects including many Commons components and also PDFBox have > moved to Java 1.5 in the meantime, raising the bar for people still > lagging behind in their environment. > > What I don't support is jumping to Java 6 just now. Most Apache projects > have moved from 1.4 to 1.5 but not necessarily 6. Platform support for 6 > is not yet as good as for 1.5. Plus I'd like to hear why 6 is supposed > to be technically better for XML Graphics (on the class library level, > not the JVM). A few new convenience methods alone don't warrant the jump > and the risk to alienate certain users. > > On 20.10.2010 20:53:28 Vincent Hennebert wrote: >> Hi, >> >> The topic has already been mentioned several times in the past, at least >> in the FOP area. The latest discussion we had was in August 2009: >> http://markmail.org/message/y7iwptehnzujcuxm >> It was decided then to release FOP 1.0 with Java 1.4 support, and do >> a user community poll shortly afterwards. >> >> More than a year has passed now and I’d like to re-visit that topic, >> with two modifications: >> • make the decision at the project level. Homogenizing things a bit >> wouldn’t hurt IMO. Specifically, Commons and FOP Trunk would switch to >> 1.5 now, Batik would switch after the 1.8 release (which is about to >> happen IIUC). >> • I’m not sure that a poll still is necessary. It’s been almost 2 years >> now that Java 1.4 has reached end of life. We are in the same >> situation as when we dropped support for Java 1.3. >> >> Moreover, I think sticking to 1.4 is a growing impediment to the >> development of the project. Simon ran into trouble when releasing 1.0: >> http://markmail.org/message/ivlwk2dcmuk25woy >> Proper internationalization can only be achieved starting from 1.5: >> http://markmail.org/message/6n2w5tefarqp76iv >> We recently upgraded Checkstyle to version 5.1 in FOP and that requires >> Java 1.5. >> >> Using retroweaving tools is doable but adds complexity to the build and >> is a hassle that I don’t think we can live with due to our limited >> resources. >> >> I think it’s time to move on. If anybody really feels that a user poll >> still is necessary, please speak up now. Otherwise, just wait a few days >> that I launch an official vote on this. >> >> Thanks, >> Vincent > > > Jeremias Maerki > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
