Why isn't java.io.Bits public? [closed]

Question

I've done a lot with IO in Java and after looking for code to convert primitives to byte arrays and back I found source for java.io.Bits on one of the Java source code hosting websites. After a quick glance I realized it's exactly what I need, except it's package-private. So I made a copy which I made public, stored in my project's package and used (only in personal projects, I assure you). I find it very useful.

My question is, why is this package-private? I can see it being really useful for people who work with IO and I see no disadvantage from changing it's visibility to public (in rt.jar). Or is there perhaps an equivalent (and please don't mention other libraries)?

Here's a link to a randomly chosen website that has Java source for java.io.Bits: http://grepcode.com/file/repository.grepcode.com/java/root/jdk/openjdk/6-b14/java/io/Bits.java

Answer 1

You'd have to ask one of the Java devs for sure, but by making it package private, the API can be treated as "internal" - i.e. it might change or disappear at any time. This means the API can be developed relatively quickly, and doesn't need to go through the same relatively thorough testing process that public APIs need to go through (since once they're released, they're stuck there for good.)

In short, making an API public has long term implications, and it requires much, much more work than just hitting a switch.

I would hazard a guess it started life as a "hacked together" group of functions useful for a few other classes in the IO package, and has just stayed there ever since.

Answer 2

It's package-private, sure, but there are public APIs that expose the same behavior, e.g. ByteBuffer.wrap(array).getInt(index) and the other methods on ByteBuffer. You're almost certainly better off using that properly designed, well-documented public API than trying to wrap or copy internal implementation details from Java.