Hi Ali, On 12/18/2015 05:05 PM, Ali Ebrahimi wrote:
Hi, In general, your workaround has some disadvantages: 1) Existing code does not work as is: (your need read edges)
See my message written concurrently with your's ;-) Optional dependency could add a read edge for you if the target module was pulled in by some other means, but would not cause it to be pulled in.
2) command line options only apply to boot layer not to dynamic configurations created by future containers
Who knows what future containers will do. They are free to add all modules deployed in a deployment unit as root modules to the layer configuration. Root modules could be listed in a deployment descriptor of the deployment unit. Jigsaw is providing the API for them to do what they want.
Regards, Peter
On Fri, Dec 18, 2015 at 7:19 PM, Peter Levart <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:Hi Paul, I think we are not in disagreement. We are just talking of slightly different things. So let me answer your concerns... On 12/17/2015 06:14 PM, Paul Benedict wrote: Peter, thanks for your comments. I differ in that I don't see any problems with optional dependencies. Right now, like in Spring, optional features are enabled with a Class.forName() runtime check; if ClassNotFoundException is captured, the feature is unavailable. I expect that coding pattern to continue with optional dependencies. Libraries know how to check if a class is available and fallback to another plan when it's not. You can check whether the optional module is included in a runtime configuration or not with a simple Class.forName() check even if you don't depend on the module (i.e. don't list it in "requires" descriptor at runtime). The visibility of classes is not restricted. It only depends on ClassLoader hierarchy. When you successfully resolve some optional class at runtime (with Class.forName), you then have to add a read edge to it's module: Class<?> optionalClass = Class.forName("..."); MySelfClass.getModule().addRead(optionalClass.getModule()); ...before invoking any code that uses this module. What's different with jigsaw is how you include an optional module in the runtime configuration. Now you do this: java -classpath ....:/path/to/my-optional-module.jar:... With jigsaw you do this: java -mp /repository/of/modules -addmods ...:my-optional-module:... What's nice is that you don't have to remember to put the module into the 'repository-of-modules'. You just have to remember to '-addmods my-optional-module' and jigsaw will tell you if it can't find it. So you have explicit control from command line. Regarding your concern on the command line, I am not sure if people will be using the command line often. I expect tools to eventually read the Module Descriptors and assemble the correct list of modules. I believe Maven is currently investigating something similar right now. Currently, Jigsaw only reads a module directory, but eventually individual jars will be able to be listed. Just let tools solve this problem. I think this feature is only meant to simplify establishing a set of searchable modules when each of them is found in a directory with some other files that would otherwise be in the way if the directory as a whole was included in the modulepath (think of automatic modules). And that's only needed when compiling or running directly from the layout of Maven local repository. Application assembly usually puts all modules into a single archive. I believe this could be a .jimage file in the future. When you put something in -modulepath, it does not automatically become part of your runtime configuration and I think it should not. The concept of listing the root module(s) explicitly and letting the system figure out the transitive closure which then becomes a set of modules included in the runtime configuration is a powerful concept. And I think optional modules should not automatically be included in the runtime configuration. All that Juergen has to tell jigsaw Spring users is to "require" the modules that are Spring optional dependencies in their own root application module and jigsaw will make sure they are included at runtime. Or users can choose to delay that decision to launch runtime by not "require"-ing the modules and using -addmods option instead. Regards, Peter Cheers, Paul On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 10:58 AM, Peter Levart <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote: Hi, On 12/17/2015 12:03 PM, Stephen Colebourne wrote: And here are the threads for Joda projects, which also need optional dependencies: http://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/jigsaw-dev/2015-December/005462.html http://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/jigsaw-dev/2015-December/005638.html Note, I do not consider command line flags to be acceptable as a solution. Stephen On 17 December 2015 at 09:41, Stephane Epardaud <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote: As I already mentioned, we also have the need for this in Ceylon, for the same reasons. Dependencies are required at compile-time but optional at run-time, based on detection: if it's there fine, if not then no problem. The only problem I see with optional dependencies at runtime is as follows... If "requires optional X" semantic was to include the module X in configuration if it could be found with module finder (on -modulepath), otherwise not, then the established configuration would not only be dependent on command-line arguments, but also on the content of module directories. If there was a common directory used as a repository for various modules, you would not be able to opt-out of using a particular module if it was declared as optional dependency and included in the modulepath. So instead of assembling command-line arguments (-addmods ...), you would be forced to assemble private module directories for each particular configuration. Contrasting this with what we have now, the classpath: you have to declare that you use a particular optional dependency on command line, by mentioning it on the -classpath. And when you do that (assemble a -classpath command line argument), the configuration does not even check that it really is there. If the .jar file isn't there, it is simply ignored. So I think the safe "requires optional X" semantic would have to be such that it acts as two descriptors: requires X - at compile time nothing - at runtime (no attempt to find the module and add it to configuration) You would still have to put -addmods X to command line, but then you would have a total control over configuration from command-line only. Optional dependencies basically then just reduce to a means to have two different descriptors: one for compile-time and one for run-time, where run-time has a sub-set of requires from compile-time descriptor. It can be done now (with separate compilation), but it would be convenient to have a single descriptor with two scopes of requires. Regards, Peter -- Best Regards, Ali Ebrahimi
