Squeezing Fat Out Of The JDK
According to Mark Reinhold’s recent blog post, the JSR 270 Expert Group has voted unanimously for the removal of the MIDI Package from JDK 6 in an attempt to reduce the Java download size. It is the only package on which the group could agree at the moment, but Mark mentions CORBA as the next candidate for removal.
It is interesting that although the MIDI package shall become optional, the respective tests shall remain in the JCK (the test suite through which all Java technology licensees have to pass their products before release.) I believe this was not the case for Optional Packages such as Java3D or JavaMail before they went open-source.
Anyway, MIDI removal is unlikely to stop complaints about Java download size, so it seems Excelsior JET will not lose in the near future one of the selling points it has just gained. This makes me feel a bit more relaxed at least until Java 7, which is set to incorporate JSR 277 (JavaM Module System)…
