Java 15 Support #7761
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Erin LeDell commented: [~accountid:5a32df017dcf343865c26fa5] Any update on when we will add official support for Java 15 (released in Sept 2020)? We need to clarify which versions of Java we support on the CRAN release: [https://h2oai.atlassian.net/browse/PUBDEV-7894|https://h2oai.atlassian.net/browse/PUBDEV-7894|smart-link] |
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Pavel Pscheidl commented: Did the Java support itself months ago. [https://github.com//pull/5110|https://github.com//pull/5110] Unable to merge it ATM. First, the current system of test docker images generation has to be dealt with to prevent combinatorical explosion. [https://github.com//pull/5122|https://github.com//pull/5122] The work on this has stopped quite some time ago and is not going to be resumed in next two weeks, as there are other more important tasks to finish. Is there a customer waiting for this ? If yes, can you please point me to the support ticket ? |
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Erin LeDell commented: [~accountid:5a32df017dcf343865c26fa5] No customer support ticket that I am aware of. I am just asking because I was about to submit to CRAN and we still claim to support Java >=8 (which is not correct since we don’t support latest Java), so I think I will need to change this in the R package requirements (DESCRIPTION file). If we get Java 15 support merged for 3.34, please ping me, so I can make sure to adjust the requirements again back to >= Java 8. |
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Pavel Pscheidl commented: Sure. If Java 15 is a priority, just let me know. It's not LTS version. Next LTS will be a priority. |
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Erin LeDell commented: Since September 2020, when new users try H2O, they will be prompted by Oracle to download “latest Java” (which will not work), so it’s not a great user experience for people just getting started with H2O or people who are installing H2O up on a new machine and need to first download Java. Oracle.com redirects people to download latest Java and makes it slightly more complicated to find an older version…which adds to the friction. I have a sense that a lot of people get stuck on this (it was the first thing my new intern got stuck on a few weeks ago, and in the past, lack of “latest” Java support has been a big roadblock for new users when we run H2O trainings since they all install the latest Java by default), so ideally we’d minimize the delay as much as possible to avoid this scenario. |
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Pavel Pscheidl commented: In addition, we could also change the link to latest supported version tu prevent future problems, instead of just showing the link to latest Java ? Since quite some time ago, new Java versions come out very, very rapidly. |
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Erin LeDell commented: I think there’s at least a few places in the code & in our docs where we have links to the “latest Java”, so it’s a bit of a pain to keep those URLs all up to date with a static URL to our highest supported version. Also, I am not sure if [oracle.com|http://oracle.com] has a public facing URL for each version (we’d have to check). When you search “Java 14” for example, you may end up on this page, an archive: [https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/oracle-java-archive-downloads.html|https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/oracle-java-archive-downloads.html] Here’s one place we link to the “latest Java” page in the R client but I think there may be places in Java or Python as well: [https://github.com/h2oai/h2o-3/blob/rel-zermelo/h2o-r/h2o-package/R/connection.R#L620|https://github.com/h2oai/h2o-3/blob/rel-zermelo/h2o-r/h2o-package/R/connection.R#L620] I think the main problem is that people simply search “Install Java” and it brings people to page on [oracle.com|http://oracle.com] with the latest version, and it has Java 15, 11 (LTS) and 8 all on that same page and they typically just install Java 15 without thinking anything about it. The only place we document the supported versions of Java in our User Guide is here (not sure if people know to look at this in advance of trying to install): [http://docs.h2o.ai/h2o/latest-stable/h2o-docs/welcome.html#requirements|http://docs.h2o.ai/h2o/latest-stable/h2o-docs/welcome.html#requirements] |
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Pavel Pscheidl commented: The URLs exist: |
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Erin LeDell commented: I thought we always leaned towards suggesting people use Oracle Java over OpenJDK (even though both work)? That’s always been the official stance (as far as I’ve been told). Either way, we can definitely consider the approach of pointing people to versioned notes and URLs about which versions we support (within code warnings), but that will be a more annoying to maintain since we have to change it in a handful of places in the code/docs each time we add support for a new version of Java. Maybe worth it, maybe not? Definitely worth a discussion… |
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Pavel Pscheidl commented: The required Java version is a subject for another long discussion. This is usually handled by users themselves. Companies have policies for that and usually use latest LTS. User experience may vary. Some use latest JDK from official distribution channels on their platform, some install it manually. Either way, Java 15 support will be added. My point is simple: Every 6 months, a new Java version is released. H2O will almost never be able to claim support immediately, as test pipelione has to be created for that version first. This means the problem will repeat in six months latest. The solution to the “confusion” problem is to change the clients to instruct users to download latest supported version. Could be done so that it’s automatic, as the URLs are predictable (client downloads latest supported version number from H2O backend and then just replaces that bit in URL). |
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Erin LeDell commented: [~accountid:5a32df017dcf343865c26fa5] I agree with all your sentiments. New suggestion: What if we change all the in-code “Download Java” URLs to all point to the same static URL in our User Guide, where we have a more up-to-date & nuanced explanation of our Java requirements and the exact URLs of where to get different versions of Oracle Java and OpenJDK? This way we won’t have to maintain / track all the places in the code that we have Download Java URLs and we can simply change the info in our User Guide (which we have to do anyway every time we add support for a new version). |
Add Java 15 to list of supported Java versions (H2O backend), update the [Requirements|http://docs.h2o.ai/h2o/latest-stable/h2o-docs/welcome.html#requirements] section of the User Guide to reflect the change and also update the DESCRIPTION file in the R package to support Java 15.
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