On Sep 21, 2011, at 3:50 PM, Jan Algermissen wrote:
>
> On Sep 21, 2011, at 7:10 PM, Markus KARG wrote:
>
>>> While the proposed changes introduce a risk of BW incompatibility, the
>>> ...
>>> FWIW, we have already checked our intent within the JavaEE architects
>>> and spec leads group and while personal opinions
>>> of individual spec leads are divided, we are free to proceed with the
>>> change at our own discretion.
>>
>> Strange. I once read on this list that we must not induce ANY backwards incompatibility.
>
> Yes, that caught my eye, too earlier today.
>
> Essentially, such an incompatibility could force someone to adjust their JAX-RS based implementation when upgrading the Java stack to the one that comes with JAX-RS 2.0, right?
Newer API, older implementation. Yes, this could happen.
Other specs have followed this path, though. For example, the interface javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest has been extended with at least 5 methods in Servlet 3.0. The alternative is to define a new interface every time a change is needed, which is not ideal either.
-- Santiago