CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javajavac
mjn
mjn

Reputation: 36654

Does javac -target 1.3 guarantee that the classes will run under JRE 1.3?

The article "Don’t be fooled by javac -target 1.4" shows that compiling with -target 1.4 still can create class files which will not run on JRE 1.4.

It also describes how the -bootclasspath parameter can solve this problem.

Now my question: if I compile with the Sun JDK 1.6 version of javac, using the source and target parameters set to 1.3, is safe to assume that the compiled classes will work on a JRE 1.3?

Upvotes: 4

Views: 520

Answers (2)

Riduidel
Riduidel

Reputation: 22292

In fact, like the article says, your code will be bytecode compatible with 1.3, but not linkable with 1.3. As a consequence, it is possible for you to use post 1.3 classes or method (as states their example) as long as you use a rt.jar coming from a version more recent than the expected 1.3.

As a consequence, the only sure way to develop for 1.3 is to use a 1.3 JDK ... or to rely on verification tools, like ... oh crap ! i'm sure there is one maven reporting plugin that can check your code is compatible with expected JDK, but can't find back how it's named.

However, notice there exist tools like Retrotranslator, that will take your post 1.5 code to adapt it to previous versions ... as long as your code solely relys on JDK, as they may not be able to handle all external APIs dependencies

Upvotes: 0

Powerlord
Powerlord

Reputation: 88796

They won't work if you use any methods or classes in the standard library that didn't exist in 1.3, as these files are not compiled into your program, but are part of the JVM's libraries.

Upvotes: 5

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