Zmanim API 2.4.0 Released

The KosherJava Zmanim API version 2.4.0 was released on Nov 27, 2022 ד׳ כסלו תשפ״ג in Maven and GitHub.

New in Version 2.4.0

Added JewishCalendar.getUpcomingParshah() that returns the upcoming Parsha regardless of the day of week.
Change YerushalmiYomiCalculator to return null on Yom Kippur and Tisha Be’Av when there is no Daf.
Add some Luach Ahavat Shalom Zmanim.
Add BeHaB to the JewishCalendar class.
Add Yom Kippur Katan and Isru Chag to the JewishCalendar class.
Add the TefilaRules class, a utility class for info like:
- is Vesain Tal Umatar recited etc.
- is Tachanun recited during shacharis or mincha.
- Is Hallel or Hallel Shalem recited
Deprecate the tefila rules methods that existed in JewishCalendar class in favor of using the ones in the TefilaRules class.
Add getSamuchLeMinchaKetana zman.
Deprecate getSofZmanShmaFixedLocal() and getSofZmanTfilaFixedLocal() with future plans of removal.
Deprecate multiple “dangerous” zmanim as an alert to developers. These will be retained and not removed from the API.

The KosherJava Zmanim API version 2.3.0 was released on Dec 7th, 2021 ג׳ טבת תשפ״ב in Maven and GitHub. While there have been numerous releases over the years, this is the first release-related post since the v1.3.0 release in 2013. If you have not updated since that time, you can expect some changes. The most significant changes (besides a lot of new functionality) are the simple to fix breaking changes listed below.

New in Version 2.3.0

Added seasonal davening based zmanim including Vesein Tal Umatar/ Vesein Berachah / Mashiv Haruach.
Added Rav Moshe Feinstein’s fixed local chatzos based zmanim. These are used in MTJ and Yeshiva (and Camp) of Staten Island.
Refactored code for alos and tzeis zmaniyos based time (ports of the library to other languages can simplify their code by doing the same).
Fixed an issue with kiddush levana being off by an hour when the molad and kiddush levana zmanim are on different sides of the DST change. This impacted the JewishCalendar but not the ComplexZmanimCalendar.
Corrected the Hebrew spelling of Parshas Nitzavim.

The list of significant changes in this and previous releases can be seen in the KosherJava Zmanim API changelog.

Breaking Changes since v1.3

The Zmanim API no longer supports Java versions prior to Java 8 (released in March 2014). It likely still compiles against Java 6 released in December 2006.
The package structure changed from net.sourceforge.zmanim to com.kosherjava.zmanim.
There were two mathematically identical calculators using the USNO algorithm, so the less clean (code-wise) ZmanimCalculator was removed, while the SunTimesCalculator was retained.

KosherJava Zmanim Library Package Name and Build Process Update

The KosherJava zmanim library originally went live in 2004. There was an existing C/C++ zmanim project by Ken Bloom hosted on SourceForge (that was at the time the equivalent of what GitHub is today). The Java package structure name net.sourceforge.zmanim was based on the one used by Ken’s project (despite not being hosted there), and remained that way for 16 years.
On August 3, 2020, Eli Julian modernized the library’s build process from the previously used Ant, to Maven & Gradle. This change simplified the workflow for many developers using the zmanim API. As part of the change, the package name was updated to com.kosherjava.zmanim. The KosherJava zmanim Maven / Gradle artifacts are available at the KosherJava zmanim Maven Central page. A direct Jar download is available at Maven Central (see the KosherJava Downloads page for instructions). The old code was branched into zmanim-1.5 and will allow people who do not want to upgrade to continue to use the old structure (and Ant build process) while continuing to receive emergency bug fixes. This will allow the codebase to use more modern Java language features, without impacting users who want to remain on the legacy code. The new code has a minimum Java 8 requirement (a version released in March 2014). Releases based on the new build process will use SemVer (Semantic Versioning) to make things simpler for developers.
The upgraded build process also allowed automated GitHub’s CodeQL vulnerability scanning for the KosherJava Zmanim project.
You can add the KosherJava zmanim library as a Maven or Gradle dependency. For Maven add the following to your pom.xml.

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.kosherjava</groupId>
  <artifactId>zmanim</artifactId>
  <version>2.0.3</version>
</dependency>

For Gradle, add the following to your build.gradle file.

implementation group: 'com.kosherjava', name: 'zmanim', version: '2.0.3'

Zmanim API 1.3.0 Released

The Zmanim API version 1.3.0 was released on March 4th, 2013 כ״א אדר תשע״ג. Various changes in the new release VS the previous version 1.2.1 that was released in May 2010 can be seen below. This release includes beta support for Jewish Calendar calculations as well as a number of updated zmanim and refactored code. The Jewish Calendar support in the Zmanim API is based on Avrom Finkelstien’s HebrewDate project released in 2002. Unlike the Zmanim code, the Jewish calendar interfaces may change significantly in the future (see Jay Gindin’s various changes that may make it into this API) and should therefore be considered beta.

Changes in the Zmanim API 1.3.0 release

Refactoring of zmanim calculations to allow more flexibility in generating custom zmanim. New generic methods that take an arbitrary start and end of day for many zmanim such as sofZmanShema and getPlagHamincha etc. This makes calculating atypical zmanim that I had not anticipated when creating the API. I receive such requests from time to time, and the changes greatly simplify these types of calculations. Examples of recent requests are:
- Zman krias Shema calculated from alos as 72 minutes before netz and tzais as 7.083 degrees
- Plag hamincha from alos 7.083° to tzais 7.083°
Many rounds of general code refactoring to simplify and stabilize the code and make it easier to port. Thank you Jay Gindin for his many suggestions.
The addition of Erev Pesach zmanim to the Zmanim API
Added Tzais Geonim 3.676 degrees (18 minutes as calculated by Stanley Fishkind)
Calculation of Kiddush Levana and molad times
Hebrew calendar support (with formatters and Yom Tov calendar)
Daf Yomi calendar
A number of bug fixes including a fix to DST correction, and a calendar date correction
Changing the license of the KosherJava Zmanim API from GPL 2 to LGPL 2.1
Many additions and clarifications to the Zmanim API JavaDoc documentation. My thanks to Reb Feivel Muller for his valuable input.
Removal of the deprecated (and inaccurate) JSuntimeCalculator.java class. This has been deprecated since 2008. The NOAACalculator replaced this class.
Deprecation of the getSofZmanShmaKolEliyahu() method. Thank you to Rabbi Yisroel Boruch Twerski for pointing out that the Yisrael Vehazmanim was incorrect in including this zman. This is something he discussed with Rabbi Harfenes.
Uniformly return zmanim based on sea level sunrise and sunset. Most zmanim had this fix a long time ago, but there were a few zmanim such as candle lighting time that were corrected.
The getCandleLighting() method had a spelling correction (it had been getCandelLighting)

Changes since March 23, 2011 have been in SVN and detailed changes can be seen there.

FAQ: How do I Calculate the Jewish/Hebrew Date for …?

This FAQ is now obsolete. Jewish Calendar Calculations are now supported. See the Zmanim API 1.3.0 Release announcement

Question:

How do I get the Jewish Date for … using the Zmanim API?

Answer:

The current version of the Zanim API does not support Jewish calendrical calculations. Zmanim are almost exclusively based on the solar calendar, so for example, the sunrise on February 8th this year in Montreal (or any other date and location), will be almost the same every year. for this reason there was little point (as far as zmanim) to support Jewish date calculations in the API. One of the only zmanim to rely on a Jewish date is the sof zman kidush levanah calculation, though there are some opinions that it is purely molad based, and this can be calculated without a Jewish calendar component to the API. This zman is obviously not currently implemented in the Zmanim API. I am currently working on adding Jewish date support to the API. The code is based off Avrom Finkelstein‘s no longer active HebrewDate project. I refactored a lot of the code and fixed a number of bugs. Anyone interested in alpha testing this code can download the latest Zmanim SVN code.
I mentioned that it “will be almost the same every year” and this is due the approximate 1/4 day drift between the 356 day calendar year and the approximately 365.25 days actually present in the astronomical year, a discrepancy corrected every leap year. A future FAQ (probably a few of them) may delve specifically into this drift as well as general zmanim accuracy issues in detail.
If you are simply looking to convert a Hebrew date to Gregorian or Gregorian to Hebrew online without the API, try the JewishGen calendar conversion tools.

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Zmanim API 2.3.0 Released