binary-compatibility

Is JDK “upward” or “backward” compatible?

Note that for something to be backwards compatible there must be a counterpart that is forwards compatible (either intentionally or unintentionally). For example: are the DVD readers backwards compatible with CD’s or are the CD’s forward compatible with DVD readers? In this case, it depends if you look at the compiler (or the bytecode it … Read more

What causes java.lang.IncompatibleClassChangeError?

This means that you have made some incompatible binary changes to the library without recompiling the client code. Java Language Specification ยง13 details all such changes, most prominently, changing non-static non-private fields/methods to be static or vice versa. Recompile the client code against the new library, and you should be good to go. UPDATE: If … Read more