Prompt file imported from aerospike/aerospike-client-java (.cursor/commands/port-to-jdk8.md). Copyright stays with the author.

Port Branch Changes from stage (Java 21) to stage-jdk8 (Java 8)

Port changes from the source branch (based on stage) to a new branch based on stage-jdk8.

Instructions

The user will provide a source branch name as an argument. Use it to perform the port.

Target Branch Naming

The target branch name MUST be derived from the source branch name by appending _jdk8:

• Source: CLIENT-1234_feature -> Target: CLIENT-1234_feature_jdk8
• Source: bugfix-something -> Target: bugfix-something_jdk8

Steps

1. Validate the source branch exists and is based on stage.
2. Analyze the commits on the source branch that are not on stage:

   git log --oneline stage..<source-branch>
   

3. Create the target branch off stage-jdk8:

   git checkout stage-jdk8
   git pull
   git checkout -b <target-branch-name>
   

4. Cherry-pick the commits from the source branch onto the target branch. If there are conflicts, resolve them with the Java 8 adaptations listed below.
5. Adapt the code for Java 8 compatibility (see adaptation rules below).
6. Purge Maven cache to avoid stale JDK 21 artifacts causing build failures:

   mvn dependency:purge-local-repository \
     -DreResolve=true \
     -DactTransitively=false
   

7. Build to verify:

   mvn clean install -U
   

Java 21 to Java 8 Adaptation Rules

When porting code, apply these transformations:

Language Features

• Records -> Replace with traditional classes (private final fields, constructor, getters, equals/hashCode/toString)
• Sealed classes/interfaces -> Remove sealed, permits, non-sealed keywords; use regular class hierarchy
• Pattern matching for instanceof -> Use traditional instanceof + explicit cast

  // Java 21
  if (obj instanceof String s) { use(s); }
  // Java 8
  if (obj instanceof String) { String s = (String) obj; use(s); }

• Switch expressions -> Convert to switch statements or if-else chains

  // Java 21
  var result = switch (x) {
      case 1 -> "one";
      case 2 -> "two";
      default -> "other";
  };
  // Java 8
  String result;
  switch (x) {
      case 1: result = "one"; break;
      case 2: result = "two"; break;
      default: result = "other"; break;
  }

• Text blocks (triple quotes) -> Use string concatenation or String.join
• var keyword -> Replace with explicit types
• Enhanced switch with arrow syntax -> Use traditional colon-case syntax

API Differences

• List.of(), Set.of(), Map.of() -> Use Collections.unmodifiableList(Arrays.asList(...)), Collections.unmodifiableSet(new HashSet<>(Arrays.asList(...))), or manual map construction
• String.isBlank() -> Use string.trim().isEmpty()
• String.strip() -> Use string.trim()
• String.repeat(n) -> Use a loop or String.join("", Collections.nCopies(n, str))
• Optional.isEmpty() -> Use !optional.isPresent()
• Stream.toList() -> Use .collect(Collectors.toList())
• Map.entry() -> Use new AbstractMap.SimpleEntry<>()
• Files.readString() / Files.writeString() -> Use traditional I/O with BufferedReader/BufferedWriter

Project-Specific Differences

• The stage-jdk8 branch uses aerospike-client-jdk8 artifact instead of aerospike-client-jdk21
• pom.xml uses java.version=1.8 and java.api=8 instead of java.version=21
• Some features like estimateKeySize() do not exist in the jdk8 branch
• Do NOT modify pom.xml java version settings - those are already correct on stage-jdk8

Important

• Preserve the original commit messages when cherry-picking
• If a file does not exist on stage-jdk8, check if the functionality lives in a different file or should be skipped
• After all changes, run mvn clean install -U and fix any compilation errors