[logback-user] Re: Using Logback on JDK1.4 possible?

[Gerweck Andy - agerwe]

Personally, I have had excellent luck using Retroweaver
[http://retroweaver.sourceforge.net/] to back-convert my Java 5 code for
deployment on earlier JVM runtimes. Retroweaver can handle *every*
linguistic feature from Java 5. (Most of the linguistic changes in Java
5, even generics, have almost no incompatible effects on the compiled
bytecode.) You feed it classes compiled with Java 5 and it spits out
classes that will work on earlier JVMs. It requires only that you add a
small JAR to your classpath.

It also combines with the backport-util-concurrent project
[http://dcl.mathcs.emory.edu/util/backport-util-concurrent/] to handle
java.util.concurrent, Java 5's biggest library enhancement.

Except where Java 5 adds new methods (e.g., String.format(...)) to old
classes, Retroweaver can handle almost any Java 5 program. I put some
back-compiled code through our QA department, which could find no
performance or functionality problems.

I *strongly* recommend you put in the slight extra effort to run
Retroweaver's library-check utility. Point it to your JRE libraries and
it will go through the code to ensure it doesn't try to use any methods
or classes not available in your JRE (make sure to include the
Retroweaver runtime JAR). This will catch those library changes I
mentioned that Retroweaver doesn't handle--which is much better than a
missing class or method at runtime. If you pass this test, you shouldn't
have any problems. 

I have no affiliation with Retroweaver, though I did submit a patch to
the backport-util-concurrent project. I make no claims that it'll work
for you, but I'd bet you could run through the LOGBack JAR and get it
running on JDK 1.4. If you do, you may want to share your work. Just
feed in the LOGBack JARs you need and use the output instead of the
original.

Andy Gerweck
Software Engineer

PS: In good conscience, I can't help but recommend you upgrade to Java 5
or higher if at all possible. We're reaching the point where it's bad
practice and poor style not to use Java 5's important language
enhancements. There are also great runtime advantages, so it's not
advisable to force a runtime upgrade where possible.
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