users@glassfish.java.net

Re: JDK1.5 or 1.6

From: Scott Oaks <Scott.Oaks_at_Sun.COM>
Date: Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:27:03 -0500

On Wed, 2008-01-02 at 12:19, Garth Keesler wrote:
> I just installed GF2 with Netbeans6 and tried to run the sample
> Calculator web app but got errors. Before I spend too much time chasing,
> should I be running the 1.5 or 1.6 version of JDK? I 'm currently
> running 1.6.
>
> Thanx,
> Garth

The answer to "should I be runinng 1.5 or 1.6" is yes. It doesn't really
matter, as both are supported. The only thing you have to watch out for
is moving to JDK 5 *after* starting with JDK 6 -- JDK 5 can't read the
class files generated by JDK 6 (and you'll get ClassFormatExceptions if
you try). If you start with JDK 5, then its not a problem. But in your
case, JDK 6 will handle both class file formats, and so whatever your
error is, it is likely elsewhere (unless for some reason you have an
application that used a private interface in JDK 5 that no longer exists
in JDK 6 or some othere error like that).

Also, JDK 6 has much better performance than JDK 5, so it is preferred
for that.

-Scott