Re: Note on JDK compatibility with GNU JAXP XPath

Phil Shaw wrote:
> Several of the new XPath classes that Chris has contributed cannot be
> compiled with the Sun 1.3 JDK because they use
> java.util.LinkedHashSet, introduced in Java 1.4. The affected classes
> are:
>
> gnu.xml.xpath.Expr
> gnu.xml.xpath.Step
> gnu.xml.xpath.UnionExpr
>
> I am not aware this project has any specific compatibility objectives
> with Sun, but the project home page does use examples relating to Sun
> 1.2 JDK and above in the documentation section.
>
> http://www.gnu.org/software/classpathx/jaxp/jaxp.html
>
> Is it time a policy was adopted on this?

Sure, I'd like to hear discussion on this.

For the record, I am concerned that we maintain compatibility with GNU 
Classpath and with all known free Java compilers. GNU JAXP will shortly 
be merged with GNU Classpath, and the assumption will be that 
java.util.LinkedHashSet will be available, as it is in the same 
codebase.

There is also the issue of DOM compatibility: earlier applications 
built with DOM Level 1 and 2 may not compile with DOM Level 3, since 
new abstract methods were introduced in Level 3. GNU JAXP implements 
JAXP 1.3, which uses DOM Level 3, so older applications may fail to 
compile with GNU JAXP. Parts of GNU Classpath that do not implement DOM 
Level 3 are being upgraded as we speak in preparation for the merge!
-- 
Chris Burdess