Source / Target flag Compiling

[dudley442]

Hey Everyone,

Right now I've got Java 1.5 SDK on my computer.  I wanted to compile for 1.3, so I did this:

javac -source 1.3 -target 1.3 *.java

It successfully compiled without giving any errors.

However, the program didn't run.  Why?

Because I called the String.contains(String) method, which wasn't introduced until 1.4.

Why doesn't it catch this?

Thanks.

[Backmask]

-target 1.x makes the bytecode compatible with prior 1.5 bytecode standard. It does not check if you are using individiual methods that has been introduced later than your target flag.

[Bombadil]

-target 1.x makes the bytecode compatible with prior 1.5 bytecode standard. It does not check if you are using individiual methods that has been introduced later than your target flag.

For this to happen you need specifiy the switch "bootclasspath" (I think) with the rt.jar (?) of the old version.

I think we did this a long time ago at work, but can't remember the details anymore.