RE: UserLinux & free runtimes for java applications

[Mark Wielaard]

Hi,

On Mon, 2003-12-22 at 01:50, David Holmes wrote:
> I think the original point that was being made was that it was very
> unclear what version of the Java platform Classpath was aiming to be
> compatible with. The docs said 1.1 but in practice there were API's
> ranging from 1.0 through to 1.4 (at least more recently). I'm not sure
> what the stated aim for Classpath 1.0 is at present.

Fair point. The stated goal for GNU Classpath 1.0 has always been at
least as complete as 1.1, including documentation, test-suites and a
stable API for integration into the different compilers and execution
environments that build upon it. But in practice we are driven by what
people actually use or want to use. So while we find the documentation,
tests and the Abstract Window Toolkit (java.awt) support not yet 1.0
material you will find support for lots of 1.4 extensions for the
various packages or even complete new packages like java.nio and
java.util.logging in the current GNU Classpath snapshot releases. Much
is driven by the desire of people to run the larger free software
frameworks like JBoss, Eclipse and some of the Apache Jakarta tools.
Most of which now just work on VMs based on GNU Classpath.

I hope that the hacker meeting we will have at Fosdem (February 21 - 22
2004 in Brussels) makes it easier to just set some clear goals and a
roadmap for a real GNU Classpath 1.0 release.

When you are looking for an complete execution and development
environment for programs written in the java programming language then
GNU Classpath is just one (obvious important) part. You have to look at
how well it supports real applications and other extensions like
Tritonous (javax.sound), GNU JAXP/libxmlj (javax.xml), GNU Crypto
(javax.crypto), GNU regex (java.util.regex), Jessie (javax.net,
javax.net.ssl, javax.security.cert, SSL support) and the various tools
like gjdoc (info and html API doc generation),  jikes/kjc/gcj/ecj (java
to byte-code or native binary compilers) and other CP-tools (jar, javap,
etc.).
Kaffe is in the lead here with smooth integration of most of the above.
Other environments tend to catch up to it quickly though.

Cheers,

Mark

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