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+# Java Asserts in Chromium
+This doc exists to explain how asserts in Java are enabled and disabled by
+Chromium's build system.
+
+## javac Assertion Bytecode
+Whenever javac compiles a Java class, assertions are transformed into the
+following bytecode:
+
+```
+    Code:
+       0: getstatic     #2            // Static field $assertionsDisabled
+       3: ifne          20            // Conditional jump past assertion throw
+      12: new           #3            // Class java/lang/AssertionError
+      19: athrow                      // Throwing AssertionError
+      20: return
+
+// NOTE: this static block was made just to check the desiredAssertionStatus.
+// There was no static block on the class before javac created one.
+  static {};
+    Code:
+       2: invokevirtual #6            // Method java/lang/Class.desiredAssertionStatus()
+       5: ifne          12
+       8: iconst_1
+       9: goto          13
+      12: iconst_0
+      13: putstatic     #2            // Static field $assertionsDisabled
+      16: return
+```
+
+TL;DR - every single assertion is gated behind a `assertionDisabled` flag check,
+which is a static field that can be set by the JRE's
+`setDefaultAssertionStatus`, `setPackageAssertionStatus`, and
+`setClassAssertionStatus` methods.
+
+## Assertion Enabling/Disabling
+Our tools which consume javac output, namely R8 and D8, each have flags which
+the build system uses to enable or disable asserts. We control this with the
+`enable_java_asserts` gn arg. It does this by deleting the gating check on
+`assertionsDisabled` when enabling, and by eliminating any reference to the
+assert when disabling.
+
+```java
+// Example equivalents of:
+a = foo();
+assert a != 0;
+return a;
+
+// Traditional, unoptimized javac output.
+a = foo();
+if (!assertionsDisabled && a == 0) {
+  throw new AssertionError();
+}
+return a;
+
+// Optimized with assertions enabled.
+a = foo();
+if (a == 0) {
+  throw new AssertionError();
+}
+return a;
+
+// Optimized with assertions disabled.
+a = foo();
+return a;
+```
+
+## Assertion Enabling on Canary
+Recently we [enabled
+asserts](https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/3307087) on
+Canary. It spiked our crash rate, and it was decided to not do this again, as
+it's bad user experience to crash the app incessantly for non-fatal issues.
+
+So, we asked the R8 team with an ask to allow us to rewrite the bytecode of
+these assertions, which they implemented for us. Now, instead of just turning
+it on and throwing an `AssertionError`, [R8 would call a provided assertion
+handler](https://r8.googlesource.com/r8/+/aefe7bc18a7ce19f3e9c6dac0bedf6d182bbe142/src/main/java/com/android/tools/r8/ParseFlagInfoImpl.java#124)
+with the `AssertionError`. We then wrote a [silent assertion
+reporter](https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/3746261)
+and this reports Java `AssertionErrors` to our crash server without crashing
+the browser.