| ------ |
| Setting the --release of the Java Compiler |
| ------ |
| Mahmoud Anouti |
| ------ |
| 2019-12-20 |
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| |
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| |
| Setting the <<<--release>>> of the Java Compiler |
| |
| Starting JDK 9, the <<<javac>>> executable can accept the <<<--release>>> |
| option to specify against which Java SE release you want to build the project. |
| For example, you have JDK 11 installed and used by Maven, but you want to |
| build the project against Java 8. |
| The <<<--release>>> option ensures that the code is compiled following the |
| rules of the programming language of the specified release, and that generated |
| classes target the release as well as the public API of that release. This |
| means that, unlike the |
| {{{../examples/set-compiler-source-and-target.html}<<<-source>>> and <<<-target>>> options}}, |
| the compiler will detect and generate an error when using APIs that don't exist |
| in previous releases of Java SE. |
| |
| Since version 3.6 of the Compiler Plugin, this option can be provided either |
| via a property: |
| |
| +----- |
| <project> |
| [...] |
| <properties> |
| <maven.compiler.release>8</maven.compiler.release> |
| </properties> |
| [...] |
| </project> |
| +----- |
| |
| or by configuring the plugin directly: |
| |
| +----- |
| <project> |
| [...] |
| <build> |
| [...] |
| <plugins> |
| <plugin> |
| <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> |
| <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId> |
| <version>${project.version}</version> |
| <configuration> |
| <release>8</release> |
| </configuration> |
| </plugin> |
| </plugins> |
| [...] |
| </build> |
| [...] |
| </project> |
| +----- |
| |
| <<Note:>> The value in the <<<release>>> parameter follows the new version naming scheme adopted |
| since Java 9. As such, the release number does not start with 1.x anymore. Also note that the |
| supported <<<release>>> targets include the release of the currently used JDK plus a limited number |
| of previous releases. |