GNU Classpath - GNU Project (original) (raw)

GNU Classpath, Essential Libraries for Java, is a GNU project to create free core class libraries for use with virtual machines and compilers for the java programming language.

Development of GNU Classpath is always in progress. There have been various public 0.x releases, slowly working towards the first major 1.0 release. The current development source code is available via GNU's anonymous CVS server , and periodic public releases of the GNU Classpath tree are made available on ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/classpath/

GNU Classpath 1.0 will be fully compatible with the 1.1 and 1.2 API specifications, in addition to having significant (>95%) compatability with the 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6 APIs. Our target for this release will be to be fully API compatabile with the core of 1.5 (i.e. java.*, not javax.*) and to have a number of significant applications (to be determined by user input) running well. The vast majority of the 1.4 and 1.5 APIs will be available, along with a stable API for interacting with virtual machines. The latter is likely to involve some interaction with theOpenJDK challenge for a new virtual machine interface.

Current snapshot releases have implementations for most Java packages. The live JAPI results above give further details on this. Major missing packages with respect to 1.6 are in the javax.* namespace, including the web services APIs (JAXWS). There is no current plan to implement these, given their existing presence as a distinct element inOpenJDK. Thus, our preference is to get this working with GNU Classpath rather than implement the entire API from scratch.

What we implement is largely based on user feedback. If there is a particular API that is critical to your use of GNU Classpath, then please let us know. We can then adjust our priorities accordingly.