Address various comments on patch-set 1

- calling 'this' constructor to avoid code duplication
- @since tags
- update version to 3.17 as recommended by API tooling
- better naming for arguments in newly added constructor
- fix typo in JavaDoc comment on new constructor

Change-Id: I368b32a87ae7d93995b238a3039f30d8a59a457d
Signed-off-by: Kris De Volder <kdevolder@pivotal.io>