GNU Classpath

GNU Classpath, essential libraries for java, is a project to create free core class libraries for use with runtimes, compilers and tools for the java programming language.

The GNU Classpath developer snapshot releases are not directly aimed at the end user but are meant to be integrated into larger development platforms. For example the GCC (gcj) and Kaffe projects will use the developer snapshots as a base for future versions. More projects based on GNU Classpath: http://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/stories.html

Again, this release is primarily a maintenance release. The recent release of the majority of Sun's class library as Free Software on May the 8th, 2007, under the auspices of the OpenJDK project ( http://openjdk.java.net ) has changed the position of GNU Classpath within the community and recent efforts have focused on bringing together Classpath and OpenJDK code under the umbrella of IcedTea ( http://icedtea.classpath.org/wiki/Main_Page ) and BrandWeg ( http://icedtea.classpath.org/wiki/BrandWeg ). We hope to extend support and work together with the OpenJDK community over time.

The main feature of this release is major changes to Classpath's build system. Notably, configure now tries to find ecj, javac and gcj (in that order), with the --with-ecj and --with-javac options being removed. To override this, set JAVAC when calling configure. This brings the use of the Java compiler in line with that of the C and C++ compilers. Building also now requires a version of javah so that headers may be generated.

There have also been many bugfixes over the past four months. Those relevant to 0.97 can be found at http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?product=classpath&target_milestone=0.97 .

With the 0.95 release, we switched fully towards the 1.5 generics work that we previously released separately as classpath-generics. All this work is now fully integrated in the main release and various runtimes (gcj, cacao, jamvm, ikvm, etc) have been extended to take advantage of the new generics, annotations and enumeration support in the core library. As a consequence, only 1.5 capable compilers (currently the Eclipse Compiler for Java (ecj) and Sun's javac) may be used to build Classpath.

The GNU Classpath developers site http://developer.classpath.org/ provides detailed information on how to start with helping the GNU Classpath project and gives an overview of the core class library packages currently provided.

For each snapshot release generated documentation is provided through the GNU Classpath Tools gjdoc project. A documentation generation framework for java source files used by the GNU project. Full documentation on the currently implementated packages and classes can be found at: http://developer.classpath.org/doc/ We are looking into how to extend the documentation experience in the future. Please contact the mailinglist if you would like to help with this effort.

For more information about the project see also:

• GNU Classpath home page: http://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/
• Developer information (wiki): http://developer.classpath.org/
• Full class documentation: http://developer.classpath.org/doc/
• GNU Classpath hackers: http://planet.classpath.org/
• Autobuilder, current build status, build snapshots: http://builder.classpath.org/
• Application test pages (wiki) http://developer.classpath.org/mediation/Applets http://developer.classpath.org/mediation/FreeAWTTestApps http://developer.classpath.org/mediation/FreeSwingTestApps http://developer.classpath.org/mediation/FreeSWTTestApps
• GNU Classpath hacking with Eclipse (wiki) http://developer.classpath.org/mediation/ClasspathHackingWithEclipse
• GNU Classpath promotion banners: http://developer.classpath.org/mediation/ClasspathBanners

File: classpath-0.97.tar.gz
MD5sum: 73c36efc5dc265cf8950fe43247541de
SHA1sum: c53703710c6030d105d750c9dad7ed7551be5317

Build changes:

• A copy of javah (to produce C header files from Java source code) is now required to generate the files in include.
• The javac check has been changed so that it attempts to find ecj, javac and gcj (in that order). You may override this by using JAVAC=

Runtime interface changes:

• Removed VMFloat.floatToIntBits amd VMDouble.doubleToLongBits.
• Added new getParameterAnnotations() methods in Constructor and Method.

The following people helped with this release:

Luciano Chavez, Thomas Fitzsimmons, Bernhard Fischer, Jeroen Frijters, Stefan Huehner, Andrew John Hughes, Jakub Jelinek, Ito Kazumitsu, Roman Kennke, Alexandre Oliva, Ian Rogers, Robert Schuster, Leen Toelen, Mario Torre, Dalibor Topic, Tom Tromey, David Walluck, Mark Wielaard and Ralf Wildenhues.

We would also like to thank the numerous bug reporters and testers! In addition, we'd like to extend our thanks to all those who've contributed over the years and have helped in building a thriving and friendly community around the GNU Classpath project.