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I can see the advantages of this feature, but like all things, it will take a while for people to become used to it. I also see the possibility of some program

I can see the advantages of this feature, but like all things, it will take a while for people to become used to it. I also see the possibility of some programmers, who will be attached to the old way in which java code documentations is displayed. Although, I would love to ask, will there be an option to choose, to upgrade or not?

brabel 4y ago
Java almost never removes a feature, specially not one so widespread, there's millions of Javadocs out there based on HTML. I expect they will let you choose forever... having two ways of doing something so basic is probably going to be more annoying than just dealing with the extremely small inconvenience of writing a little HTML.
- seadan83 4y ago
  Sounds more like HTML by default and markdown as opt-in. I wouldn't assume it's going to be a required flag when generating javadoc for what the input format is. Perhaps the javadoc generator could even become smart enough to detect which one is being used.
Alupis 4y ago
One of the advantages of a constrained systems such as javadoc is it's uniformity and consistency. No matter what library, program, codebase I read, if it's Java, I know how to effectively navigate the javadoc documentation. The defaults are good enough most of the time, even without additional developer elaboration/explanations. There are still modern languages today that don't do automatic documentation anywhere near as good as javadoc. If something like Markdown can be added in addition to the existing javadoc, and coexist and be used intertwined within the same documents - then this will be a huge winner.
pgwhalen 4y ago
There is zero chance that HTML JavaDoc will be removed (or even made the default) anytime soon. That would be far too large a change for the Java ecosystem, for an already very conservative language with respect to change.

brabel 4y ago

Java almost never removes a feature, specially not one so widespread, there's millions of Javadocs out there based on HTML. I expect they will let you choose forever... having two ways of doing something so basic is probably going to be more annoying than just dealing with the extremely small inconvenience of writing a little HTML.

seadan83 4y ago
Sounds more like HTML by default and markdown as opt-in. I wouldn't assume it's going to be a required flag when generating javadoc for what the input format is. Perhaps the javadoc generator could even become smart enough to detect which one is being used.

Alupis 4y ago

One of the advantages of a constrained systems such as javadoc is it's uniformity and consistency. No matter what library, program, codebase I read, if it's Java, I know how to effectively navigate the javadoc documentation. The defaults are good enough most of the time, even without additional developer elaboration/explanations. There are still modern languages today that don't do automatic documentation anywhere near as good as javadoc. If something like Markdown can be added in addition to the existing javadoc, and coexist and be used intertwined within the same documents - then this will be a huge winner.

pgwhalen 4y ago

There is zero chance that HTML JavaDoc will be removed (or even made the default) anytime soon. That would be far too large a change for the Java ecosystem, for an already very conservative language with respect to change.