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Is it "safe" for the JDK7 platform?

We have a project that is (supposed to) be completed in 1-2 years. By then, JDK7 (and hopefully the Java7 JCP specification) should be ready.

But, I wonder how likely the “danger” is that Oracle will make a “stupid” decision that will make JDK7 a less attractive platform than the existing JDK6?

More specifically, I am afraid of scenarios such as:

  • discontinuation of JDK7 until its release
  • changing the licensing model will be more restrictive than JDK6
  • ... are there any other scenarios to be aware of?

What is your opinion on this?

NOTE. We used the NIO2 file APIs and possibly other JDK7 functions that were adopted for "Plan B" (Plan A was rejected, there was a proposal to continue developing JDK7 much longer, instead, plan B was adopted: develop JDK7 with fewer features and postpone them on JDK8)

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If you are concerned about the risks associated with Java 7, you can mitigate them by ensuring that your code runs on Java 6. The easiest way to do this is to develop on top of Java 6 now and then upgrade to Java 7 after these the risks have dissipated.

In addition to these risks, the feature set planned for Java 7 is in motion.

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It depends on how many Java 7 features you use.

If your code can still compile on JDK 6, I would say that you are safe. You can run JDK 7 as it is backward compatible, but if there is a problem you can still deploy to 6.

If Oracle does something really stupid, you will have a bigger solution in my hands: will I rewrite this application in C #, Python, or something else?

I will be interested to know how well the open source JDK will allow you to hedge your bet.

I would also be interested to know what features of JDK 7 you are already using: close?

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