Is Sun's release plan for Java any good?

Miscellaneous Topics
#1

I’ve been thinking about Java being released every 18 months.
I’ve also been reading about Sun planning new features.

Updates which can help Java immediately, such as escape analysis should be released as soon as they are done and tested.
New language functions could be left until the major release.

Basically I’m asking is would you prefer to see a few small updates to Java which can implement and improve current functionality, or wait 18 months for a single large update?

Both plans have their pros and cons, personally I’m split over which would be better.
However I do believe 18 months is a bit to much to wait.

A yearly update between each major release of Java looks like it could be done.

#2

Nice though it would be to get goodies quicker, it often isn’t sensible to just release an update for say escape analysis as soon as it was done. The whole JDK/JRE needs to be tested to find unintended consequences of changes. To get faster turn around it would be necessary to break the system into smaller components which then had independent release cycles. The JVM itself and items with hidden dependencies on it (such as java.nio) would have to be in that core.
Even the graphics system may have a hidden relationship with the core at least on Windows due to the way in which Windows handles process shutdown for processes with event loops. Windows treats processes which don’t have event loops differently.

#3

[quote]I’ve been thinking about Java being released every 18 months.
I’ve also been reading about Sun planning new features.

Updates which can help Java immediately, such as escape analysis should be released as soon as they are done and tested.
New language functions could be left until the major release.

Basically I’m asking is would you prefer to see a few small updates to Java which can implement and improve current functionality, or wait 18 months for a single large update?

Both plans have their pros and cons, personally I’m split over which would be better.
However I do believe 18 months is a bit to much to wait.

A yearly update between each major release of Java looks like it could be done.
[/quote]
Community process, testing kits (TCKs), compatability checks, redundancy checks and the general adoption of new features all lead to the long-ish release schedule. But, this ensures the greatest compatability between versions.

Consider that a lot of companies are starting to pull back from total Linux deployments due to the rapid release schedule that Linux permits because rapid means little testing and forking. One customer even referred to Linux as “Ghetto Unix” after going through the pain of linux updates and maintainence.

…Modified for stupidity…

-ChrisM

#4

Actually that 18mo. release schudule was considered a major speed up, or rather splitting of features from Sun. In fact the whole 18mo. cycle was annouced to much fanfair as a huge improvement over the previous 3 years release cycle!

#5

[quote]I’ve been thinking about Java being released every 18 months.
…
Both plans have their pros and cons, personally I’m split over which would be better.
[/quote]
Not really. If you’d worked on a project the size of the JDK you’d see that 18 months is around the absolute minimum to have any acceptable level of quality in the releases, unless you increased the staff considerably (and then you run into problems of having so many staff and so many changes that it gets even harder to manage to provide decent quality).

Also bear in mind that most devleopers need 6 months to learn new features, to practise and get good at them, plus 6 months of discovering new bugs and inventing workarounds - on a 12 month cycle, no-one would ever get any work done.

Indeed, that’s part of why many companies skip alternate versions: so that they have time to use the product after they’ve spent 1-2 years getting used to it…

#6

[quote]That’s quite an interesting thing you said.
Can I assume Sun is up to something in that department?
[/quote]
Nope, just not thinking. Or rather, yeah, just not thinking. Sorry to stir the pot.

-ChrisM

#7

[quote]That’s quite an interesting thing you said.
Can I assume Sun is up to something in that department?
[/quote]
Fear of people jumping to just such conclusions is part of why Chris rarely says anything :(.

#8

Don’t assume that I did assume that’s what Sun are doing.
I did ask if there was something going on, and I got a reply saying there wasn’t.

I didn’t jump to any conclusion, hence my question.

#9

[quote]Don’t assume that I did assume that’s what Sun are doing.
I did ask if there was something going on, and I got a reply saying there wasn’t.

I didn’t jump to any conclusion, hence my question.
[/quote]
Sorry, wasn’t intended to sound how it did (didn’t meant to criticise you in particular)