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I've read rumors that Joda Time is slated to be included in Java 7, but am having trouble locating a definitive source for this information. Will Joda Time be included in a future JDK? Please cite your source.

+2  A: 

It's JSR310 and is currently marked as inactive. I don't believe it's going in any time soon.

According to some posts on the mailing lists, 'inactive' refers to releases and doesn't reflect (say) the fact that the library may be near-complete and that they're just modifying docs. However the last mailing list message was in September, and I can't find anything relating to releases.

Brian Agnew
+4  A: 

I've been in conversations recently with Stephen Colebourne (the main author of Joda Time and a lead for JSR-310) due to porting Joda Time to .NET (Noda Time). He's indicated that JSR-310 definitely isn't finished, and from the general tone I would be very surprised if it could be completed in time for Java 7.

Jon Skeet
+7  A: 

Steven Colebourne, the author of Joda time is the spec lead of JSR-310 which aims to provide an alternative to the "old" Calendar/Date classes. While there are some similarities, JSR-310 is not Joda Time per se.

I followed the mailing list for quite some time, but there were quite a few open issues left, so as of now it does not appear as if JSR-310 is going to be included in JDK7.

So for now, if you are in need of a powerful date/time library, there is nothing speaking against Joda Time - even though it will not become "a standard", there will most certainly be no better alternative included in JDK7.

Daniel Schneller
I wouldn't say there's "nothing speaking against Joda Time" - one of the advantages of JSR-310 is that Stephen got to work out some of the design issues from Joda Time and fix them :)
Jon Skeet
From that perspective, very true. I just meant that with JSR-310 not being ready for prime time yet, Joda Time is what you might call "the least evil" ;-)
Daniel Schneller
Oh absolutely - it's certainly better than using the built-in classes :)
Jon Skeet
Some words from Stephen on the topic: http://www.jroller.com/scolebourne/entry/why_jsr_310_isn_t
Daniel Schneller
+2  A: 

You can find a good overview of all proposed new Java features here: http://tech.puredanger.com/java7 Currently the JSR310 is marked as HMM which unfortunately means that it's doubtful.

BalusC
+11  A: 

JSR-310 will not be included in JDK 7.

Stephen Colebourne Co-spec lead, JSR-310

JodaStephen