Upgrade to Java 17?

[laeubi]

I noticed Nebula is using Java 11 on all places, platform already requires Java 17 or even Java 21, so I'd like to ask if there are any concerns in updating bundles (e.g. next time they are touched) to Java 17.

[fipro78]

My personal opinion on this is, that I don't see a reason to simply update the requirement to a newer version, if there is no need. Means, if no new language features are used, why should the minimum required Java version be updated?

But that is just my personal opinion. And I noticed that the decision to update to Java 11 was done a while ago, although it was not necessary for all widgets. Which kind of brings me to some trouble in other projects that still require Java 8 for legacy reasons.

[laeubi]

Which kind of brings me to some trouble in other projects that still require Java 8 for legacy reasons.

Nebula effectively depends on dependencies that require Java 17 ... so Java 11 is more a best guess, we even compile and run with Java 17 already.

So given that the next LTS Java 24 is around the corner and 11 > 17 is usually not causing any troubles (compared to 8 > 11) I just wanted to bring up the topic just in case. E.g I'm currently try to enhance some widget and might then use other language feature.

[fipro78]

That is what I meant by saying that I am having troubles with the legacy application. I am not able to update to the latest Nebula since that change. But the bugfixes and feature enhancements are not required there, so I can skip the update until the major update in the other place.

But that is not the topic here. If you want to use language features of Java 17, it makes sense to update the minimum required Java version. I only said that I don't like to update the minimum required Java version just that it got updated without a reason. This would not be my understanding of the minimum required Java version. Apart from that, why not, you are totally right that we should be able to use newer language features in case there is work done in that area.