Eclipse default compliances

First published on May 06 2005 and tagged Tech . Java .

Don’t we all stupidly waste time, especially when we are requested to deliver quickly ? Today I imported an subcontractor java project in my elcipse IDE, and I had an hard time figuring out why it was not compiling. So may be that small 101 type article will save someone a few minutes

It was all because of Eclipse default compliances. This java project was indeed using assertions.

Quick reminder :
Assertions are a new feature since J2SE version 1.4. An assertion is a program statement containing a boolean expression, that a programmer believes to be true at the time the statement is executed. Note you can catch assertion failures by using a catch AssertionError exception.

public class AssertDemo1 {
        static void f() {
            assert false;
        }

        public static void main(String args[]) {
            try {
                f();
            }
            catch (AssertionError e) {
                System.out.println("exception: " + e);
            }
        }
    }

So why is not compiling ? Well It’s because by default my IDE version (3.0.2) was using jdk1.3 compliance. I found that here.
So you just need to modify your preferences: Open a project in Eclipse. Select Project → Properties → Java Compiler → Compliances and Classfiles, (depress the Use project setting'' button to activate the other tabs). Uncheck use default compliances'' and select 1.4 in all 3 drop down boxes.