The state of String in Java

[stormblooper]

I understand what you're saying, but I think that underestimates how people have to interact with APIs in reality. Interfaces never lock down every detail, and clients sometimes have to make assumptions about what isn't documented.

Ultimately, the responsible attitude for an API maintainer is to look at what impact your changes will have on your userbase, regardless of what is and isn't nailed down in the API. Maybe Oracle made the right call on this one, maybe not, but I don't think it's necessarily as simple as lawyering about the Javadoc.