JAVA 8 MODULES, JIGSAW AND OSGi Neil Bartlett with Tim Ellison
May 13, 2015
JAVA 8 MODULES, JIGSAW AND OSGi
Neil Bartlett with Tim Ellison
MOTIVATION
WHY MODULARISE THE JDK?
• The JRE is monolithic
• Download time and start-up time are directly affected by number of types available at runtime
• Start-up time includes a linear search through the class path to find system and application code
• Oracle 1.7 Windows boot classpath nearly 20k classes
• rt.jar index alone is approx 1Mb
OSGi
• If only Java had a module system that could help with that!
• As we all know, OSGi will not be used for JDK modularity
JIGSAW MOTIVATION
• JRE libraries evolved organically and haphazardly over 13+ years
• Many cyclic dependencies
• Many weird/unexpected dependencies
• E.g.: java.util is an incoherent mess
• Splitting packages is unavoidable
Good news, everyone!
OSGi supports split packages, using Require-
Bundle.
SINGLE CLASSLOADER
• Yeah but there’s the single classloader assumption...
• Many parts of the JRE assume a single boot classloader
• Package-private (“default”) accessibility requires whole packages in single classloader
• Need to split packages across modules but not across classloaders
• Break the one-to-one mapping of modules to classloaders
OSGi supports shared classloaders, using
Fragments.
DEPENDENCY DIRECTION
• Yeah, but the dependency goes in the “wrong” direction (fragment depends on host).
• Jigsaw wants the “host” to depend on the “fragment”: host shouldn’t resolve if fragment unavailable.
OSGi R4.3 supports that too using generic
requirements/capabilities.
REUSE
• Yeah but the fragment still depends on the host and cannot be used by other hosts.
...
Pretty sure we could have supported this, if only you
had talked to us.
REFACTORING
• Usual and best solution: move classes to the correct, most logical place
• Obviously impossible in the JRE.
• 9 million Java developers (Sun estimate, 2009) and billions of apps depend on this library.
JIGSAW
MODULES
• Module declared in module-info.java (module-info.class)
• All new keywords are “scoped”
module B @ 1.0 { ...}
REQUIRES
• Modules require other modules by name (and optionally, version)
module B @ 1.0 { require A @ [2.0,3.0);}
LOCAL
• Requirements can be marked “local”
• Target module is loaded in same classloader
module B @ 1.0 { require local A @ [2.0,3.0);}
EXPORTS
• Modules list their exports, at package and type level
• May include re-exported contents of required modules
module B @ 1.0 { require A @ [2.0,3.0); export org.foo.ClassFoo; export org.bar.*;}
FRIENDS
• Modules can control which other modules require them
• Compare with “friend” classes in C++
• N.B. permit clause is not versioned.
module A @ 2.0 { permit B;}
PROVIDES
• Modules can logically “provide” other modules names
• Compare with “virtual packages” in Debian
• Supports substitution, but not refactoring (splits or joins)
module com.ibm.stax @ 1.0 { provide jdk.stax @ 2.0;}
ENTRY POINT
• Modules can have a single entry-point class
• Compare with Main-Class header in Jar manifests.
module A @ 2.0 { permit B; class org.foo.Main;}
VERSIONS
• Modules will be versioned
• Requirements use exact version or a range
• No version semantics beyond ordering
COMPARISONS
LIFECYCLE
• Resolver solves dependencies in the face of multiple valid alternatives
• OSGi resolver finds best fit for currently installed bundles at runtime
• Jigsaw resolves during build and installation
• Jigsaw has no dynamics, no module lifecycle
METADATA
• Tools required to inspect module-info.class
• OSGi uses kind-of readable MANIFEST.MF
COMPARISON
• Whole-module dependencies and split packages are the biggest differences
• Jigsaw will suffer all the same problems seen in OSGi with Require-Bundle (e.g. Eclipse Core Runtime refactoring mess)
• While Jigsaw will technically achieve JDK modularity it will increase developer maintenance burden
INTEROP
INTEROP
• Both are here to stay... try to get the best of both worlds!
• OSGi is established and will continue to be used widely
• Jigsaw is underway and a key component of Java 8
• It need not be a zero-sum game
JAVA 8 REQUIREMENTS
• “It must be demonstrated by prototype to be feasible to modify an OSGi micro-kernel such that OSGi bundles running in that kernel can depend upon Java modules. The kernel must be able to load Java modules directly and resolve them using its own resolver, except for core system modules. Core system modules can only be loaded using the module system’s reification API.”
• http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jigsaw/doc/draft-java-module-system-requirements-12
PROJECT PENROSE
• OpenJDK-hosted project to work on Jigsaw/OSGi interop
• Project lead is Tim Ellison
LEVELS
0
1
2
3+
Tolerate
Understand
Exploit
Cooperate
LEVEL 0: TOLERATE
• Ensure that OSGi frameworks continue to run unmodified on Jigsaw-enabled runtime.
• Creating modules/bundles that have both Jigsaw and OSGi metadata on the same JAR.
LEVEL 1: UNDERSTAND
• Teach OSGi to read Jigsaw module info
• Mapping Jigsaw metadata into OSGi concepts e.g. requires = Require-Bundle, exports = Export-Package.
• Resolve Jigsaw modules using the OSGi resolver.
LEVEL 2: EXPLOIT
• OSGi implementation exploits Jigsaw modularity
• E.g. use Jigsaw publication repositories.
LEVEL 3+: COOPERATE
• A blend of OSGi and Jigsaw cross-delegation on module phases.
ACHIEVEMENT 1
• Passed the OSGi tests on a Jigsaw-enabled runtime
• Equinox 3.7, the OSGi Reference Implementation.
• OSGi R4.3 Compliance Tests
ACHIEVEMENT 2
• Run a Java application as either OSGi or Jigsaw modules
• Took a Java 2D demo
• Broke into multiple functional units, run demo as either OSGi bundles or Jigsaw modules
GOAL 1
• Map Jigsaw module metadata to OSGi equivalents
• Discussion: how to interpret Jigsaw directives
GOAL 2
• Modify OSGi (Equinox) to use Jigsaw reification APIs
• Load a 3rd-party module from the Jigsaw repository
• Resolve it using the OSGi resolver
TIMELINE
• Java 8: summer 2013? Code freeze early 2013.
• Jigsaw seems to be basically “done”, with little recent activity
• No JSR yet, or perhaps ever.
• If we need changes in Jigsaw, we need to push them soon.
GET INVOLVED
• Penrose home & mailing list:
• http://openjdk.java.net/projects/penrose/
• Hg repository:
• http://hg.openjdk.java.net/penrose/jigsaw/