[kepler-dev] Java 1.7

[Daniel Crawl]

I agree that we should stick to 1.6 until 1.7 is better supported
on Mac. The Java 1.7 prerelease at http://jdk7.java.net/macportpreview
requires OS X 10.7.3, so Mac users running 10.6 and earlier
would have to compile Java 1.7.

Also, Eclipse Juno (4.2) works with Java 1.6 and does not require 1.7:

http://wiki.eclipse.org/Eclipse/Installation#Install_a_JVM.

   --dan


On 7/10/12 2:27 PM, Christopher Brooks wrote:
> Dear Christoph Daniel,
> Ptolemy II currently requires Java 1.6.
> At a minimum, $PTII/ptdb uses javax.swing.GroupLayout somewhere.
>
> The problem with requiring Java 1.7 is that Mac OS 10.7.4 has Java 1.6
> installed as the default:
>
> bash-3.2$ java -version
> java version "1.6.0_33"
> Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_33-b03-424-11M3720)
> Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 20.8-b03-424, mixed mode)
> bash-3.2$ which java
> /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/bin/java
>
> There is a Java 1.7 prerelease for the Mac available at:
>
> http://jdk7.java.net/macportpreview/
>
> So, until Java 1.7 is the default under Mac OS X, then we should
> probably stick to 1.6.
>
> This could change because Apple is no longer supporting Java, so Java
> 1.6 is probably the last Apple Java release.
>
> However, Java 1.7 for Mac OS X is still in pre-release, so I'd prefer
> not to add another step to the installation process.
>
> However, if Eclipse 3.8 requires Java 1.7, then we may be forced to
> require Java 1.7.
>
> Waiting until September to make a decision is probably best.
>
> Comments?  I'm cc'ing kepler-dev, which includes many Mac users.
>
>
> _Christopher
>
>
>
> On 7/9/12 7:24 AM, Christoph Daniel Schulze wrote:
>> Dear Christopher,
>>
>> the KIELER team is currently in the process of planning the switch to
>> Eclipse 3.8 and, later, Eclipse 4.2. As part of that, we're also
>> reconsidering to raise our Java compliance level from 1.5 to 1.7. Of
>> course, we need to be sure that this change won't break anything for our
>> partners.
>>
>> Would the Ptolemy project be fine with its KIELER components using Java
>> 1.7 features? This of course wouldn't become an issue until our visit in
>> September, during which I plan to further improve the layout algorithms
>> and its integration into Ptolemy.
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>   Christoph Daniel
>>
>