Declaring JAXB as a dependency. Why?

Question

Why would you want to declare JAXB as a dependency of your Java application since it's anyway shipped with the JRE and cannot be overriden in your applications classpath?

Using the jersey-json as an example, in their POM file they declare a dependency to jaxb-impl without specifying the exact version even. What are they gaining by doing this?

And also, when I add a dependency to jersey-json in my own POM file, I end up having jaxb-api.jar and jaxb-impl.jar in my classpath. Why would I want this to happen? Isn't the default JVM implementation anyway getting loaded if I don't put the files to the endorsed libraries directory?

Answer 1

I'm seeing in the linked pom:

    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.sun.xml.bind</groupId>
        <artifactId>jaxb-impl</artifactId>
    </dependency>

But there is also a parent pom, so you might want to follow that trail up, to see if an actual version and/or scope was specified there (and propagated down).

But if it isn't, then I'm guessing the Jersey team felt that the JAXB 2 API is mature enough to allow them to specify a loose dependency on the JAXB implementation.

The JRE ships with a specific implementation of the JAXB impl, which was equivalent to JAXB RI 2.1.7 for the longest time. But at the same time, there is a mechanism to easily swap out for another implementation of your choice, in your apps.

Sure you can use the built-in JRE JAXB implementation, and if it works for your app, you surely should try.

Nonetheless, some reasons that could lead you to want a separate JAXB implementation include : a left-over bug (addressed in a newer release); need a newer JAXB API such as JAXB 2.2.x (which comes in more recent version of the JRE); want to use a different implementation altogether (because it happens to have a better API and/or performance for your particular usage), etc...

So back to your jersey question, I'm guessing again that they wanted to give developers the flexibility to pull in their JAXB impl of choice. I'd think they have some level of recommendations somewhere in their guides. However, the fact that the JAXB RI is specifically marked as a dependency, undercuts the argument.