Java versions and Oracle Databases

[penfold]

I've had a conversation with a colleague which I do not want to fully do into here, but I am after a little bit of clarification. We have some software which in order to be externally supported means it must run on a specific (old) version of Java. One of my colleagues has argued that it needs to be on that specific version as they do not know what it will do to the data should they run it with a different version. They claim that it could corrupt data as the Java front end integrates so much with the Oracle database that it could cause data corruption and no one would know until it was too late.

 

I just want to know is that a valid point, or is that an excuse for not updating & testing?

[Steve21]

99% of the time I'd say it's fine, they do list all things that aren't compatible though each upgrade (random example - Java SE 7 and JDK 7 Compatibility )

 

But I guess it depends how much of a pain it would be if it does break, it should either be instant and not work, or fine.

 

Steve

[halbaradkenafin]

I've had a conversation with a colleague which I do not want to fully do into here, but I am after a little bit of clarification. We have some software which in order to be externally supported means it must run on a specific (old) version of Java. One of my colleagues has argued that it needs to be on that specific version as they do not know what it will do to the data should they run it with a different version. They claim that it could corrupt data as the Java front end integrates so much with the Oracle database that it could cause data corruption and no one would know until it was too late.

 

I just want to know is that a valid point, or is that an excuse for not updating & testing?

 

In theory the only way you could get data corruption is if you try to write data to the database and it's in an unsupport format (or no sanitised correctly) but if all you do is read from the database then you shouldn't have a problem. That's the theory but it will depend on the application you are using and how it was written, could be that hitting Okay (or something) after viewing a record in the database actually writes it back to the database as though you'd saved changes and that might cause problems, it's not likely to happen but that's what testing is for.

 

Personally I'd clone the database/application to a VM and play around with updating it and seeing what happens.

[penfold]

I don't want to discuss ways around this please as a number of options has been offered, none of which have been taken. I get the feeling the person is unable/unwilling to test but I have just found a document which states the minimum deployed is 1.7_76 but then goes on to talk about 1.8 so I assume it is compatible with the latest version.

 

The issue I have is that I have now got to do some support on this (as it's currently not fully working) and the first thing I would do is update Java but is precisely what I have been told will break the system. I haven't been given any evidence of this, just someone's opinion which is why I wanted to clarify on here.

@Steve21 - I've used that link you posted and found one for Java 7 and 8 which is what I am trying to upgrade to. I can pass that on for other people to look at to see if it will be an issue.

 

Thanks

[JRowley]

I would say potentially a problem could exist if the software uses methods which are then deprecated or completely removed in the following version. But this normally only happens over a long period of time, and even then you likely wouldn't do any damage, the software would just crash.

 

My advice could be to duplicate the database/application and test it, that's the only way you will know for sure without any risk.