Re: [ObjectWeb architecture] just an idea for (Java) native compilation

["Frank Ch. Eigler" <fche@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi -


dominique.devito wrote:
> >Other than language mapping problems (.java and .class/.jar),
> >there is a matter of the runtime system including libraries.
> 
> Could you please elaborate on this [...]

Sure.  You already touched on one aspect clearly different: introspection.
Java is ripe with precise rules evaluation properties of the virtual
machine, such as arithmetic, precise exceptions, error checking, garbage
collection interfaces (finalize()), which would be quite tricky to map
exactly to ocaml.  The more challenging aspects are the runtime libraries:
all the java.* classes, including notorious ones relating to reflection,
RMI, multithreading, graphics, dynamic class loading, security, and on
and on.  Mapping them to ocaml libraries would be a huge amount of work.
(Alternatively, compiling a proprietary JDK's runtime libraries may
get some part of the way, but not entirely, and their licenses prevent
too much progress along those lines.)


> On the other hand, except above problems, Ocaml compiler already provides 
> parts of what one expect of a Java compiler: high-performance GC, optimized 
> code generation...

Sure, but as great as it is, it's not for the same language and runtime.


- FChE

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