Name: igT44549 Date: 02/24/99


If a compilation unit needs to import two types residing in
different packages but with the same name, then each reference
to at least one of the types must be fully qualified.

To prevent client developers from having to fully qualify names,
library developers should make each importable type name unique,
defeating one of the goals of the package mechanism.

A compile-time mechanism to allow renaming of modules on import
would prevent this. For example:

import java.util.Date;
import java.sql.Date as SQLDate;

The ability to rename on import would not obfuscate source code,
since a reader needs to review the module import declarations
anyway to know the origin of the types being used. It would
simplify code that uses different types with the same name.

This enhancement should require only minimal changes to the
compiler and to javadoc.
(Review ID: 48501)
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