What if I'd use Java 7 for my mod?

[Two]

Just wondering: what would happen if I'd compile my mod targeting Java 7? Beside the obvious that the user needs J7 to run Minecraft, which should be like 98% of all players.

 

Would my mod be able to run alongside other J6 mods? Would it work at all?

[larsgerrits]

I think that if you use a method or class that was implemented by Java 7 and someone uses that mod of you and has Java 6 installled, it crashes.

[Two]

Stuff compiled with java 6 should run fine with java 7. So yes, users can run mods compiled against java 6 alongside your mod if they use java 7.

 

So basically I should enable --target 1.7 asap, because nothing can go wrong, except for the few players who happen to not have J7 installed?

[Two]

Ok now I am confused. First you say there won't be a problem, now you say: don't do it.

 

So... are there any known problems that will occur when I am using J7 as target for my mod while everyone else uses J6?

[apemanzilla]

If you target J7, this forces EVERYONE to use Java 7 with your mod. On a Mac, this may present problems because Java 7 and OSX = a massive shitfest. Java 6 works fine, but Java 7 causes all sorts of problems, so I always use 6 instead. There's really no reason to use Java 7 anyway unless you need a feature from it which isn't available in Java 6.

[Draco18s]

Ironically, Oracle doesn't support J6 any more.  If anyone is still having problems with J7 report them to Oracle.

 

You can't download J6 any more, so no one should have it at this point.

[apemanzilla]

Oh, not too many people have problems with Java 7. Only everyone who plays Minecraft with mods on OSX. Another reason I use bootcamp to run Windows natively

[Two]

There are mostly convenience features in J7 that I do not really need to use like binary literals and Strings in switch statements. I wasn't aware that J7 is such a problem on OSX?

[apemanzilla]

For the most part it's OK, but if you use a non-vanilla launcher (ie FTB) it will crash if you use Java 7. To fix this you need to manually update LWJGL, which in turn breaks other stuff. For example, when you right click the mouse is frozen in place until you release it. Makes it hard to shoot a bow.