[jsr294-modularity-eg] 294 EG conf call, 2009-06-17

[Alex Buckley]

* Attendees

Alex Buckley, BJ Hargrave, Peter Kriens, Richard Hall,
Bryan Atsatt, Doug Lea


* Decisions from the JavaOne face-to-face meeting

- Alex to send a simplified API for java.lang.reflect.Module & friends.
- No module-private members in interfaces.
- Tentatively, allow the 'package' keyword as an access modifier.


* Module compilation units

The EG agreed that the syntax of a module declaration in a module 
compilation unit (a.k.a. module-info.java) should be extensible. That 
is, have a generic grammar without fixed keywords for concepts such as 
dependencies.

A long discussion was held over whether a module system could ignore 
directives it didn't like, and how a compiler or runtime with multiple 
module systems available would choose which owns a given 
module-info.java/class.

The EG agreed there should be a reserved keyword (notionally 'system') 
for identifying the module system, but that it should be optional in 
source. There was slightly more support for having the keyword live 
outside the body of the module declaration than inside it.

There would be at most one directive for identifying the module system 
allowed. BJ pointed out that bundles often have a manifest which uses 
OSGi-spec headers and Eclipse-custom headers, and so require more than 
the 'standard' OSGi module system. The analogue in module-info.java is 
writing (something like) 'system osgi+eclipse'. If a programmer really 
wants to write a module resolvable in radically different module 
systems, then they'd write (something like) 'system osgi/jigsaw' and it 
would be up to a module system facade to interpret that.


* Next meeting

Wednesday 1 July. 10am US West, 1pm US East.

Unfortunately I cannot do a call this Wednesday, 6/24/09. I will send 
the unified language, classfile, VM, and API specs to the EG by the end 
of this week, 6/26/09.


Alex