d2r: tomcat & Java 5 rant

tomcat & Java 5 rant

So I go over to Jakarta this morning to get the latest stable Tomcat. Spend some time, as usual, browsing through the bewildering array of choices, until I find that the latest stable version if 5.5.4. But wait! There's also 5.0.30! Both seem to be parts of branches that are currently maintained. So what's the difference?

5.5.4 is compiled against Java 5. So to run it under JDK 1.4.x, you need a special "binary compatibility package". Do you want to bet that the 5.0.x branch is going to get less attention now that the 5.5.x branch allows Tomcat devs to play with the latest language toys?

This is not just a Jakarta issue, btw. Java 5 naturally breaks compatibility in several areas. Yeah, yeah, I know. Evolution of the language and all that. But, I don't know, I'd much prefer it if I could choose when to migrate, rather than have the choice eventually forced on me because good open-source projects start to migrate as well. Bleh.

Categories: soft.dev
Posted by diego on January 28 2005 at 11:58 AM | TrackBack (0)

Comments (please see the comments & trackback policy).

It's not that bad really. The compatibility package contains JMX and the latest Xerces. Because of it TC5.5 works fine with JDK1.4.x. You're not forced to upgrade but at the same time Tomcat can begin using the new technology (e.g. managing TC with JMX has a lot of potential for adminstrating TC and webapps in a more sensible and consistent fashion from what I've seen so far). Eventually, when you can upgrade to 1.5 you won't be wondering why your tools don't support the new tech.

Posted by: Andy at January 28, 2005 5:21 PM

Java 5 has been out for 4 months, and has been in beta for almost a year. If that's not slow enough for you, I don't know that anything will be. Maybe you should stop wanting things.

Posted by: Keith Lea at January 28, 2005 11:13 PM

Andy: Yes, I know the advantages. And Tomcat has gotten pretty complex on its own to start worrying about whether a problem is introduced by the "compatibility layer" or something else.

Keith: Java 5 has been out 4 months. But hey, we're at update **_07** (!!) of 1.4.2. And in many cases what they've fixed have been fairly important issues. I have been using Java 5 for a long time, each month in more areas for development & testing. But it will be a while until I trust it enough to deploy in a runtime environment. A good while of testing to go.

Anyway, my rant (and it WAS a rant, not a well-reasoned argument!!) had more to do with this constant upgrade cycle that open source tools create. Constant changes in configuration, and classes, in many cases for no clear reason. And in many cases tied in with important upgrades to performance or reliability, so you have little choice. E.g., switching versions and discovering that a bunch of config files have to be changed for no particular reason other than XML aesthetics.

Do I roll with the punches? Sure. We all do.

But can I get to rant about it now and then? Yep. That too. :)

Posted by: Diego at January 29, 2005 12:20 AM

The funny thing is that Java 5 is just a distant dream to corporate developers. JVM 1.4 is just starting to become common and there is plenty of life still left in JVM 1.3 out there.

But then open source developers deserve some shiny new toys for their labor.

Posted by: Don Park at January 29, 2005 2:32 AM

I understand why you wouldn't want to upgrade constantly but really when it comes down to it there's nothing stopping you from sticking with the 5.0.x series. It's been out a while now and is pretty stable. I haven't bothered to go with 5.5 yet because like you I don't feel the need to constantly upgrade.

Posted by: Glen Stampoultzis at January 31, 2005 2:29 AM