.class and Compiler Version?

[Guy Allard]

Yes, .class files begin with the magic number 0xcafebabe.

Is there a magic marker identifying the version of the compiler that produced the .class file? If so, how do I easily find it?

Thanks, Guy

[Jessica Sant]

Check out the Virtual Machine Spec:
4.1 ClassFile

The items in the ClassFile structure are as follows:

magic

The magic item supplies the magic number identifying the class file format; it has the value 0xCAFEBABE.

minor_version, major_version

The values of the minor_version and major_version items are the minor and major version numbers of the compiler that produced this class file. An implementation of the Java Virtual Machine normally supports class files having a given major version number and minor version numbers 0 through some particular minor_version.
.......

[Guy Allard]

OK, read the reply, looked at the spec link, I assume for now that 'u2' is an unsigned 2 bytes, big-endian.

java -version shows me:

Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.1_02-b06)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.1_02-b06, mixed mode)

I use javac to compile, and in the .class file following 0xcafebabe I see:

0x0000002e

Do you know how I can interpret that?

Thanks, Guy

[Guy Allard]

Sorry I am not being precise.

My object here is to determine if a .class was produced by a 1.3.x compiler or a 1.4.x compiler.

Thanks, Guy

[Guy Allard]

Interesting.

When I compile with:

1.3.1_08-b03

following 0xcafebabe I get:

0x0003002d

Speculation:

The low order nibble is the key:

-d=13
-e=14

Regards, Guy

[JulianInactive KennedyInactive]

Try it with Tiger and see if you get an F. I guess that theory would require modifying for Mustang or you'll need a bigger nibble!

Jules

[Stefan Wagner]

00 00 00 31 for tiger.

But compiler have switches, so you may specify -target 1.4 or -target 1.3 with a 1.5 or 1.4 compiler.
So you should check this too.

[Jessica Sant]

so that spec I linked to before says "In Sun's Java Developer's Kit (JDK) 1.0.2 release, documented by this book, the value of major_version is 45. The value of minor_version is 3. Only Sun may define the meaning of new class file version numbers."

So, I guess if you can find the magic list of numbers to JDK versios -- then you're good to go!