[JSR308] Can we agree on our goals?

[Ted Neward]

> 1) Once and for all, either come up with a way to support each
> construction or declare that it cannot (or should not) be done.
> 
> versus
> 
> 2) Face a continuing stream of JSR proposals, each providing a
> solution to one lacking in the previous annotation-related JSR.
>
Doug, I hate to say it, but I think this is a naïve distinction; for every X
that we say cannot be done, somebody will propose a new JSR that shows how
it can be done, why it should be done, and why we were all idiots for not
doing it before now. As I see it, we have two choices:

1) Support each and every possible construction that could ever be possibly
used.

versus

2) Face a continuing stream of JSR proposals...

IMHO, this is the problem with a committee/community-based approach; there's
nobody who can authoritatively and definitively say "NO" and have that be
the last word. :-/

Which I guess reluctantly puts me also in favor of (1), since (2) it seems
to me is at best a temporary state of affairs.... but I'm having a hard time
convincing myself that it's in the best interests of the language and the
programmers using it. :-/

Ted Neward
Java, .NET, XML Services
Consulting, Teaching, Speaking, Writing
http://www.tedneward.com
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: jsr308-bounces at lists.csail.mit.edu [mailto:jsr308-
> bounces at lists.csail.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Doug Lea
> Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 11:55 AM
> To: Neal Gafter
> Cc: jsr308 at lists.csail.mit.edu
> Subject: Re: [JSR308] Can we agree on our goals?
> 
> Neal Gafter wrote:
> > I think the right way to design a language with a general annotation
> > facility is to support (or at least consider supporting) a way of
> > annotating every semantically meaningful nonterminal.
> 
> No argument. We don't have that luxury. Instead we face the choice of:
> 
> 1) Once and for all, either come up with a way to support each
> construction or declare that it cannot (or should not) be done.
> 
> versus
> 
> 2) Face a continuing stream of JSR proposals, each providing a
> solution to one lacking in the previous annotation-related JSR.
> 
> When I asked myself this in these terms, my reluctance
> to face these issues evaporated. And the option is within stated
> scope.
> 
> -Doug
> 
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