Re: Ada requires too much typing!

[Luis Espinal <Luis_member@newsguy.com>]

In article <op.vdob5ebexmjfy8@garhos>,
=?iso-8859-15?Q?Yannick_Duch=EAne_=28Hibou57=29?= says...
>
>Le Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:30:54 +0200, Luis Espinal <Luis_member@newsguy.co=
>m>  =
>
>a =E9crit:
>> The common practice in Java is find a platform or framework (some sort=
> of
>> high-level "virtual" OS for lack of a better word.) Then, either write=
>  =
>
>> your apps
>> on it, or develop another platform on top of it (another, more refined=
>,  =
>
>> more
>> business-specific "virtual" OS. So pretty much we (try to) gradually  =
>
>> refine the
>> architecture of an application
>Is it one of the reason why Java is virtual machine based ? is it relate=
>d  =
>
>to this process or not ?
>

Not quite Yannick. Originally Java (called Oak then) was intended to run in
certain embedded devices. Having a streamlined virtual machine with a uniform
set of libraries and I/O abstractions would allow the language to run in
multiple architectures. As it evolved, its potential for networked/distributed
systems development became more apparent. All that was occurring at a juncture
when enterprises were moving into the client-server area (and then into
internet-based systems). Java fitted the bill better than what was available
then.

You didn't have to drop your previous investment in AS/400 machines, for
example. You could run your Java apps there, and as you buy new hardware (almost
any type of hardware) when you needed to scale up (again, w/o having to throw
away your previous machinery.)

So basically, the jvm (java virtual machine) was created to allow the java
compiler to spit Java bytecode that would run in any hardware architecture that
had a jvm  written for it.

Now the tables seem to be turning. Java is no longer the target, but the jvm and
the bytecode that it runs that are the target. People are now developing new
languages for the jvm (and for .NET clr, Window's vm), languages that provide
better programming facilities than Java. Scala is one example. The promise is
also to have the same exact bytecode (or at least have the same source code
compiled) running on both jvm and .NET clr. Google is implementing a different
java virtual machine called Dalvik for the android platform. Dalvik's is
register based whereas Sun's is stack-based.

Not to belittle Java's contribution, but it seems that in the long run, Sun's
long lasting legacy will be its Java virtual machine instead of the Java
language itself.

- Luis.