True, but nothing necessitated it, either. New features are tested by users for a while (and this one has even been a preview feature in a released JDK for some

True, but nothing necessitated it, either. New features are tested by users for a while (and this one has even been a preview feature in a released JDK for some time), and the people who have actually used the feature didn't report that typing `.` was a problem to them. If further experience shows otherwise, then we could allow dropping the dot. In other words, security vulnerabilities due to string manipulation are a real and pretty serious problem that this feature aims to solve (or, at least alleviate). If the dot character also proves to be a real problem, which it hasn't yet, then that could be solved later.