[🚀 Feature]: Java 11 as the minimum supported version for Selenium Java bindings

[pujagani]

Feature and motivation

Currently, Java 8 is the minimum supported version. The goal is to bump this to Java 11.
This will help take advantage of JDK 11 HTTP client as the default client (which is currently optional, read more on the usage https://www.selenium.dev/blog/2022/using-java11-httpclient/) and remove dependency on AsyncHttpClient. This change will help resolve major issues like #9528 for all Selenium clients.
Additionally, it will help remove the Guava dependency for Immutable collections as well (this change can be done in iterations once we move to Java 11).

Usage example

Usage will remain as it is. Users will not need to add explicit dependency on Guava library in their test setups.

[github-actions]

@pujagani, thank you for creating this issue. We will troubleshoot it as soon as we can.

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Thank you!

[titusfortner]

Are you proposing that we make this change next month (4.9)? I thought we were going to give users a few months notice?

[pujagani]

As Diego suggested, if there is a major feature in Java then we do it in the major release else we do it in a point release. I added the last milestone tag for the point release before the major release. I am open to doing it when we think it will be better for the users.

[diemol]

I think having the issue open is a good idea so we track this. We need to find a way to define a date for this. 6/12 months? @titusfortner had a proposal in Slack which I cannot find. Maybe we do a survey and get feedback on what a proper deadline is?

[pujagani]

That is a good idea to understand it better from user's perspective.

[titusfortner]

I think I proposed July 1 for Java 11 requirement and Jan 1, 2024 for Java 17 requirement (since Java 11 EOL is September); though I'm not sure we have an idea for what we need Java 17 for, so maybe that is premature?
There's also the option that @asolntsev proposed, which is currently used in Selenide for developing with Java 11/17 code but generating Java 8 bytecode— https://github.com/bsideup/jabel

We need to have a lot more conversation about this, but I actually think we *could release a Selenium 5 on July 1 if we want to go the route of what I suggested in Slack about explicitly defining Selenium's role in the ecosystem and setting better expectations for user. A major release would be the best way to educate users about how we want the project to be perceived/used/promote ecosystem, etc. Especially if that can coincide with a fully featured Selenium Manager...

Selenium 5: "Batteries included, some assembly required"

[pujagani]

Apologies, I think I misunderstood or missed the July 1 for Java 11 bit. I somehow recollect the EOL dates mentioned. Thank you for providing further context.
This does need to be discussed in depth and it can then be planned accordingly. Aligning it with a major version and defining Selenium's role as Titus suggested might be a good idea. But I think that needs to be fleshed out more. Probably we can add a section in the TLC meeting agenda to have regular discussions around this.

[diemol]

We decided in the TLC meeting held on January 19, 2023 that we want to set a date to make this change, maybe it will match the Selenium 5 release, maybe it wont. What we want to do is to send a survey to see what the community think an acceptable time frame is.

[diemol]

SeleniumHQ/seleniumhq.github.io#1402
https://deploy-preview-1402--selenium-dev.netlify.app/blog/2023/java-8-support/

Well, we did not do much since this issue was created. So now we want to have 30.09.2023 as the date. Post is in review and then will share in social media.

[diemol]

• https://www.selenium.dev/blog/2023/java-8-support/
• https://twitter.com/SeleniumHQ/status/1668218553038696449
• https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7073984266971267072

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. Please open a new issue for related bugs.