Java: NoSuchMethodError on JRE 8

[minwoox]

What version of protobuf and what language are you using?
Version: protobuf-java-3.21.7 (there were no problems with 3.21.1)
Language: Java

What operating system (Linux, Windows, ...) and version?
Linux

What runtime / compiler are you using (e.g., python version or gcc version)
Build JDK 9+ and run with JRE 8

What did you do?
Build Protobuf with JDK 9+ and run with JRE 8.
Because CodedOutputStream uses ByteBuffer.position(int) that overrides the method in the superclass Buffer from JDK9+,
it produces NoSuchMethodError when it's run with JRE 8.
as follow:

    java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: java.nio.ByteBuffer.position(I)Ljava/nio/ByteBuffer;
        at com.google.protobuf.CodedOutputStream$UnsafeDirectNioEncoder.writeStringNoTag(CodedOutputStream.java:2153)
        at com.google.protobuf.CodedOutputStream$UnsafeDirectNioEncoder.writeString(CodedOutputStream.java:1922)
        at com.google.protobuf.GeneratedMessageV3.writeString(GeneratedMessageV3.java:3195)
        at com.linecorp.armeria.grpc.testing.Messages$SimpleResponse.writeTo(Messages.java:4363)
        at com.linecorp.armeria.internal.common.grpc.GrpcMessageMarshaller.serializeProto(GrpcMessageMarshaller.java:202)
        at com.linecorp.armeria.internal.common.grpc.GrpcMessageMarshaller.serializeResponse(GrpcMessageMarshaller.java:145)
        at com.linecorp.armeria.internal.common.grpc.GrpcMessageMarshallerTest.serializeResponse(GrpcMessageMarshallerTest.java:121)

This is a well-described article:
https://www.morling.dev/blog/bytebuffer-and-the-dreaded-nosuchmethoderror/

Please note that there weren't any problems with 3.21.2 version.

What did you expect to see
Just work fine.

What did you see instead?
NoSuchMethodError

[fowles]

@deannagarcia the linked article shows a way to fix this at the build system layer that would work for us

[kimoonkim]

I'm also seeing this same issue in 3.21.10. Here's my stack trace:

 java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: java.nio.CharBuffer.flip()Ljava/nio/CharBuffer;
        at com.google.protobuf.TextFormat$Parser.toStringBuilder(TextFormat.java:1720)
        at com.google.protobuf.TextFormat$Parser.merge(TextFormat.java:1704)
        at com.google.protobuf.TextFormat$Parser.merge(TextFormat.java:1676)

FYI, 3.21.9 doesn't have the issue.

[XN137]

we're trying to upgrade from 3.21.9 to 3.21.12 and are now hitting the same problem as in the ticket description:

Caused By (java.lang.NoSuchMethodError) java.nio.ByteBuffer.position(I)Ljava/nio/ByteBuffer;
    com.google.protobuf.IterableByteBufferInputStream.read():143
    com.google.protobuf.CodedInputStream$StreamDecoder.read():2080
    com.google.protobuf.CodedInputStream$StreamDecoder.tryRefillBuffer():2831
    com.google.protobuf.CodedInputStream$StreamDecoder.isAtEnd():2754
    com.google.protobuf.CodedInputStream$StreamDecoder.readTag():2107
(...)

we compile with jdk11 but target java 8 (runtime) but from my understanding the problem is how the protobuf release artifacts were compiled (i.e. missing -release 8 flag?)

edit: more testing suggests the problem got introduced between 3.21.9 and 3.21.10

[XN137]

@fowles @deannagarcia i apologize for the ping but isnt this a somewhat serious problem?
it cant have been intentional to break java 8 compatibility between patch versions

[deannagarcia]

I'm so sorry I missed this, thank you for the ping. It was definitely not intentional to break java 8 compatibility between patch versions.

We just released 22.0, can you see if that version works for you with java 8?

I'm currently talking to the team about getting a patch for 21 out with this fix, but want to see if one will be needed for 22 as well.

[XN137]

@deannagarcia thanks for the quick response, before my ping I had tried 3.22.0 but i was still hitting the same problem in our build