In 1.o I could say but this does not seem to work in 2.0 and has compile issues in 0.2
So surely there is a SIMPLE way for my code tr determine the Hadoop version Here assume HadoopMajorVersion is an enum private static private static HadoopMajorVersion getHadoopVersion() { // force the class loader to load a class in the package so we can read the package Class hadoopVersionAnnotation = HadoopVersionAnnotation.class; // make cure the class loader know about packages Package aPackage = Package.getPackage("org.apache.hadoop"); if(aPackage == null) return Version0; HadoopVersionAnnotation annotation = (HadoopVersionAnnotation) aPackage.getAnnotation(HadoopVersionAnnotation.class); if(annotation == null) return Version0; String version = annotation.version(); HadoopMajorVersion[] versions = values(); for (HadoopMajorVersion v : versions) { if(version.startsWith(v.getStartText())) return v; } throw new IllegalStateException("Unknown Hadoop version " + version); } -- Steven M. Lewis PhD 4221 105th Ave NE Kirkland, WA 98033 206-384-1340 (cell) Skype lordjoe_com