Peter Kriens of OSGi fame has posted some comments about the current EDR from JSR-294, the proposed Java language changes in support of module systems:

In Java 1..6 the language offered a pretty pure model that was mapped to reality in the VM. With class loader tricks we could tweak the perspective each JAR had of this pure world, solving many real world problems. In JSR 294, we will for the first time introduce this messy and complex runtime world in the language. Untold millions have been spent to make Java run on hundreds of platforms, and with one simple JSR we bring back the need for #ifdef ...

Read the relevant posts on the mailing list, especially this one. I generally agree with the OSGi camp here, this is a giant case of ‘not invented here’ syndrome from the Sun people. It’ll be interesting to see if the acquisition by Oracle has any effect on this (or the JCP in general) but I guess we’ll only find out about that after the deal goes through (i.e. months away yet).

Hat tip to Chris Aniszczyk.