Mailing-List: contact dev-help@commons.apache.org; run by ezmlm
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: "Commons Developers List" <dev@commons.apache.org>
Received-SPF: pass (nike.apache.org: local policy)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8;
 format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 17:30:41 +0200
From: Gilles <gilles@harfang.homelinux.org>
To: <dev@commons.apache.org>
Subject: Re: [Math] Supported Java versions
In-Reply-To: 
 <CAJSjvwvGhebejrU9WS=7QRyZJ6iTD+HMeUVRAyfpoHpNO6ce3g@mail.gmail.com>
References: <20140620133743.3000123889E1@eris.apache.org>
 <CAJSjvwtUeZLN=9AZJXuwOUH7ja1Noo67oGr0UwtFH5-SX2-RFw@mail.gmail.com>
 <a3f4fe78e5c3d7151e597631caa62d1c@scarlet.be>
 <CAJSjvwvGhebejrU9WS=7QRyZJ6iTD+HMeUVRAyfpoHpNO6ce3g@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <cecbe1662579184242ece051fb99af60@scarlet.be>
User-Agent: Scarlet Webmail
X-DCC-scarlet.be-Metrics: hel; whitelist
X-Virus-Scanned: clamav-milter 0.98.1-exp at hel
X-Virus-Status: Clean
X-Virus-Checked: Checked by ClamAV on apache.org

On Fri, 20 Jun 2014 16:57:41 +0200, Thomas Neidhart wrote:
> On 20 Jun 2014 16:37, "Gilles" <gilles@harfang.homelinux.org> wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, 20 Jun 2014 16:18:08 +0200, Thomas Neidhart wrote:
>>>
>>> Java 5 is already eol. Anybody still using it is certainly in 
>>> maintenance
>>> mode thus adding now a feature that is available in java 6 does not 
>>> make
>>> any sense.
>>
>>
>> This a strong statement in a forum where it has _always_ been
>> indicated that no post-Java-5 feature could be used.
>
> These two are completely different things.
>
> Not using more recent java features was done in order to still 
> support
> users that are stuck with java 5 but want/have to use commons.
>
> Duplicating java 6 features in 2014 is pointless. What is the 
> expected
> userbase of this feature?

Commons Math itself. And this was the real purpose of duplicating Java 
6:
no user ever asked for those methods in MathArrays. They were 
implemented
for the sole reason that CM could not contain calls to methods not yet
available in Java 5. [See the "pom.xml" of Commons Math.]

> New users will certainly have adopted more recent
> versions of java and anybody still using java 5 and having a need for 
> this
> will hopefully have implemented it already in his own codebase.

This is completely unrelated to the issue.

>>
>> The right question, to be asked again (in case the answer will be
>> different from all the other times) is: Is Commons Math still to
>> support Java 5 ?
>>
>> If not, to which version do we switch to?  6, 7, 8?
>
> Thats another question to be asked, but orthogonal to the above.

No. The question is really: In Commons Math, can we call JDK's features
that are post-Java-5?
The answer has up to now been "No".

If it becomes "yes", there are several CM methods that can be 
deprecated,
and whose implementation can be right-away delegated to their JDK 
equivalent
(in particular the "copyOf" family in "MathArrays").

If it is still "No", for the reason you gave yourself above (users 
stuck with
Java 5), then how is "copyOfRange" any different from all the other 
methods
with a similar purpose (which is: prepare for switching to higher Java 
version)?


Gilles


---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@commons.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@commons.apache.org