frog$ cat -n T.java
     1 class T {
     2 public static void main(String[] args) {
     3 Object[] oa = new Object[0];
     4 int i=1, j=1;
     5 assert i==j : oa;
     6 }
     7 }
frog$ /java/jdk/ws/tools/gjc/gjc-assert/build/solaris-sparc/bin/javac -source 1.4 T.java
T.java:1: cannot resolve symbol
symbol : constructor AssertionError (void)
location: class java.lang.AssertionError
class T {
^
1 error
frog$

==========
Also:

public class Junk {
    static void foo() { }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        assert false : foo() ;
    }
}

fails with this very confusing error message:

Junk.java:3: cannot resolve symbol
symbol : constructor AssertionError (void)
location: class java.lang.AssertionError
public class Junk {
       ^

Note that the error message does not correctly identify the line with the
problem!!

==========

Also try second arg as a String.


Also (from "Eric Blake" <###@###.###>):
This file should compile, but doesn't.

$ cat Foo.java
class Foo {
  {
    assert false : null;
  }
}
$ javac -source 1.4 Foo.java
Foo.java:1: cannot resolve symbol
symbol : constructor AssertionError (void)
location: class java.lang.AssertionError
class Foo {
^
1 error