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Will Eclipse continue to run on Java 8 [message #1821354]

Tue, 11 February 2020 11:01

Eclipse User

Is there any guarantee that Eclipse will continue to run on Java 8 or are there plans to drop Java 8 support and require a newer Java version, e.g., Java 11? I couldn't find any statement on the Web site.

Re: Will Eclipse continue to run on Java 8 [message #1821355 is a reply to message #1821354]

Tue, 11 February 2020 11:33

Eclipse User

I think this decision is left to project contributors. There is no long-term guarantee about that.
However, dropping Java 8 support was not announced nor even discussed AFAIK. So you're certain that upcoming 4.15/2020-03 will support Java 8.

Re: Will Eclipse continue to run on Java 8 [message #1821357 is a reply to message #1821355]

Tue, 11 February 2020 12:23

Eclipse User

Thanks for the information. I'm actually not concerned about the next release but about the state 3-5 years from now.

Re: Will Eclipse continue to run on Java 8 [message #1821358 is a reply to message #1821357]

Tue, 11 February 2020 12:32

Eclipse User

I hope in 3-5 years from now, people will just stop using old releases of Java or any other software.
At some point, the ability to innovate in a piece of software also depends on how "innovation-friendly" are the dependencies. Java has definitely improved since Java 8, and in 3-5 years, we'll be talking about Java 20 to 26 if I'm not mistaken. Java 8 will hopefully not be relevant any more, and will be dropped from the versions supported by Eclipse Platform and IDE.
But this is a wish/hope/guess, time will tell. There is currently nothing that can guarantee Eclipse IDE 2025-03 will run against Java 8.

Re: Will Eclipse continue to run on Java 8 [message #1821360 is a reply to message #1821358]

Tue, 11 February 2020 13:37

Eclipse User

There are few guarantees in life. Death and taxes are at the top the list of the list. Perhaps the only things on the list, maybe with change as the trailer.

But a counter question. Why do you imagine it would be important to support Java 8 in 3-5 years? I can imagine some of the answers. E.g., all the introduction of modularity and changes to reflection has been rather disruptive. Even deprecation with the possibility of removal is kind of a concern. But what is your primary concern with respect to sticking to Java 8 compatibility?

Re: Will Eclipse continue to run on Java 8 [message #1821476 is a reply to message #1821360]

Thu, 13 February 2020 08:56

Eclipse User

I don't think that Eclipse should remain Java 8 compatible, the wording in my original post was a bit misleading. I'm just trying to find out when Java 8 might be dropped. I had expected that there was some kind of plan in place.

Re: Will Eclipse continue to run on Java 8 [message #1826151 is a reply to message #1821476]

Mon, 20 April 2020 06:29

Eclipse User

Im concerned about whats gonna happen in 3 to 5 years

Re: Will Eclipse continue to run on Java 8 [message #1826166 is a reply to message #1826151]

Mon, 20 April 2020 10:52

Eclipse User

It's been decided that the target version for the platform will change in the September release: https://www.eclipse.org/lists/cross-project-issues-dev/msg17532.html .

Re: Will Eclipse continue to run on Java 8 [message #1834021 is a reply to message #1826166]

Fri, 30 October 2020 08:42

Eclipse User

It could be changed. Eclipse should remain Java 8 compatible

Re: Will Eclipse continue to run on Java 8 [message #1834023 is a reply to message #1834021]

Fri, 30 October 2020 08:48

Eclipse User

You can still use Eclipse IDE to develop applications targeting Java 8 or older.
And if installing a Java 11 or newer runtime just for Eclipse IDE on your machine, then just consider installing justj that would contain a dedicated Java runtime just for the Eclipse IDE: https://www.eclipse.org/justj/

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