[rest-dev] Drop Minimum Java Requirement to Java 17

[James Perkins <jperkins@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello All,

In PR 1168 [1] we updated the minimum JDK level to 21. With the exception of concurrency, the Jakarta REST spec is the only other individual spec not having a minimum requirement of Java 17. When the vote was made for Jakarta REST 4.0, the level then was Java 17. I'm not sure if upgrading should have technically required a revote or not, but just pointing that out.

I realize the platform specs themselves are going to require Java 21. However, there is no requirement that any other specs need to require Java 21. IMO requiring Java 21 is going to limit adoption of the Jakarta REST spec outside of Jakarta EE 11. There are other projects, even SeBootstrap, that use the Jakarta REST spec outside of a Jakarta EE container. A big one consumer are the MicroProfile specs and implementations.

Could we consider dropping the minimum back to Java 17?

[1]: https://github.com/jakartaee/rest/pull/1168

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James R. Perkins

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