Release 1.6.4 of the Checker Framework and Type Annotations Compiler

[Jonathan Burke]

We have released a new version of the Type Annotations (JSR 308) compiler,

the Checker Framework, and the Eclipse plugin for the Checker Framework.

 * The Type Annotations compiler supports the type annotation syntax that is

   planned for a future version of the Java language.

 * The Checker Framework lets you create and/or run pluggable type-checkers,

   in order to detect and prevent bugs in your code.  

 * The Eclipse plugin makes it more convenient to run the Checker Framework.

You can find documentation and download links for these projects at:

http://types.cs.washington.edu/jsr308/

Changes to the Checker Framework

User-visible framework improvements:

    StubGenerator now generates stubs that can be read by the StubParser.

Maven plugin:

    The Maven plugin no longer requires the Maven project's output directory to exist in order to run the Checker Framework.  However, if you ask the Checker Framework to generate class files then the output directory will be created.

Documentation:

  Improved the Maven plugin instructions in the Checker Framework manual.

  Improved the discussion of why to define both a bottom and a top qualifier in the Checker Framework manual.

  Update FAQ to discuss that some other tools incorrectly interpret array declarations.

Changes to the Type Annotations Compiler

Base build

  Updated to OpenJDK 8 tl/langtools and type-annotations/langtools

  as of 31 May 2013.