Scala compile message - Class file or Jar is broken

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Sometimes when compiling my Scala code, the compiler output may need a little bit of help in sorting out what’s the real issue.

For example, when I compiled today I received the following error:

[sourcecode language=“jscript”]

[scalac] error: error while loading DefaultHttpClient, class file ‘C:\A_OpenSource\WicketNotesApp\lib\httpclient-4.0.jar(org/apache/http/impl/client/DefaultHttpClient.class)’ is broken [scalac] (class net.jcip.annotations.ThreadSafe not found.)

[scalac] error: error while loading AbstractHttpClient, class file ‘C:\A_OpenSource\WicketNotesApp\lib\httpclient-4.0.jar(org/apache/http/impl/client/AbstractHttpClient.class)’ is broken [scalac] (class net.jcip.annotations.ThreadSafe not found.)

[/sourcecode]

And my instinct tells me to focus on the jar file or the class file and in this case, “DefaultHttpClient.class” or “AbstractHttpClient.class” or “httpclient-4.0.jar”. There’s noting wrong with your jar file or the Java class. The actual problem is in the next line, namely “class net.jcip.annotations.ThreadSafe not found.” It’s a class-not-found error.

So if you encounter a “broken” error when compiling Scala - the following line after the broken message can help you find the real error. It can save you a whole lot of head-aches and chasing the wrong tail.

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