That's pretty much how Java works too. In general, you can't take code compiled with a newer version and run it on an older VM. You will get class version mismatch errors.. they update the class version every time there's an incompatible change, such as when 'enum' became a keyword.
The compatibility that Sun, err.. Oracle, strives for is to be able to mix code compiled with old & new versions without issues.
That's pretty much how Java works too. In general, you can't take code compiled with a newer version and run it on an older VM. You will get class version mismatch errors.. they update the class version every time there's an incompatible change, such as when 'enum' became a keyword.
The compatibility that Sun, err.. Oracle, strives for is to be able to mix code compiled with old & new versions without issues.