diff -r 000000000000 -r c880a8a8803b rt/emul/compact/src/main/java/sun/invoke/util/BytecodeDescriptor.java
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/rt/emul/compact/src/main/java/sun/invoke/util/BytecodeDescriptor.java	Sat Aug 09 11:11:13 2014 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2008, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
+ * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
+ * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+
+package sun.invoke.util;
+
+import java.lang.invoke.MethodType;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * Utility routines for dealing with bytecode-level signatures.
+ * @author jrose
+ */
+public class BytecodeDescriptor {
+
+    private BytecodeDescriptor() { }  // cannot instantiate
+
+    public static List<Class<?>> parseMethod(String bytecodeSignature, ClassLoader loader) {
+        return parseMethod(bytecodeSignature, 0, bytecodeSignature.length(), loader);
+    }
+
+    static List<Class<?>> parseMethod(String bytecodeSignature,
+            int start, int end, ClassLoader loader) {
+        if (loader == null)
+            loader = ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader();
+        String str = bytecodeSignature;
+        int[] i = {start};
+        ArrayList<Class<?>> ptypes = new ArrayList<Class<?>>();
+        if (i[0] < end && str.charAt(i[0]) == '(') {
+            ++i[0];  // skip '('
+            while (i[0] < end && str.charAt(i[0]) != ')') {
+                Class<?> pt = parseSig(str, i, end, loader);
+                if (pt == null || pt == void.class)
+                    parseError(str, "bad argument type");
+                ptypes.add(pt);
+            }
+            ++i[0];  // skip ')'
+        } else {
+            parseError(str, "not a method type");
+        }
+        Class<?> rtype = parseSig(str, i, end, loader);
+        if (rtype == null || i[0] != end)
+            parseError(str, "bad return type");
+        ptypes.add(rtype);
+        return ptypes;
+    }
+
+    static private void parseError(String str, String msg) {
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException("bad signature: "+str+": "+msg);
+    }
+
+    static private Class<?> parseSig(String str, int[] i, int end, ClassLoader loader) {
+        if (i[0] == end)  return null;
+        char c = str.charAt(i[0]++);
+        if (c == 'L') {
+            int begc = i[0], endc = str.indexOf(';', begc);
+            if (endc < 0)  return null;
+            i[0] = endc+1;
+            String name = str.substring(begc, endc).replace('/', '.');
+            try {
+                return loader.loadClass(name);
+            } catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) {
+                throw new TypeNotPresentException(name, ex);
+            }
+        } else if (c == '[') {
+            Class<?> t = parseSig(str, i, end, loader);
+            if (t != null)
+                t = java.lang.reflect.Array.newInstance(t, 0).getClass();
+            return t;
+        } else {
+            return Wrapper.forBasicType(c).primitiveType();
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static String unparse(Class<?> type) {
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+        unparseSig(type, sb);
+        return sb.toString();
+    }
+
+    public static String unparse(MethodType type) {
+        return unparseMethod(type.returnType(), type.parameterList());
+    }
+
+    public static String unparse(Object type) {
+        if (type instanceof Class<?>)
+            return unparse((Class<?>) type);
+        if (type instanceof MethodType)
+            return unparse((MethodType) type);
+        return (String) type;
+    }
+
+    public static String unparseMethod(Class<?> rtype, List<Class<?>> ptypes) {
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+        sb.append('(');
+        for (Class<?> pt : ptypes)
+            unparseSig(pt, sb);
+        sb.append(')');
+        unparseSig(rtype, sb);
+        return sb.toString();
+    }
+
+    static private void unparseSig(Class<?> t, StringBuilder sb) {
+        char c = Wrapper.forBasicType(t).basicTypeChar();
+        if (c != 'L') {
+            sb.append(c);
+        } else {
+            boolean lsemi = (!t.isArray());
+            if (lsemi)  sb.append('L');
+            sb.append(t.getName().replace('.', '/'));
+            if (lsemi)  sb.append(';');
+        }
+    }
+
+}