* About gcj present and future
@ 2013-01-08 5:26 Ernesto
2013-01-08 9:53 ` Andrew Haley
0 siblings, 1 reply; 6+ messages in thread
From: Ernesto @ 2013-01-08 5:26 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: java
Hi,
I'm new on this mailing list and new to gcj and I find it fascinating.
I have several questions about gcj present and future:
1. Are there new developments on it? Support for Java 7 language new
features? (like automatic resource management or the new List<>()
diamond constructors?)
2. I installed it in a Xubuntu linux box and Swing works fine on it,
but in Mac OS X Swing simply does not work. Is any Mac related work on
it?
3. I read somewhere that gcj is in "active maintenance mode". Does
that mean that we can trust it will be available in next versions of
gcc? Or is there some plan to discontinue it? I want to start an app
on it and I would want to know it will be available for several years
now (CNI interface is a very amazing piece of technology).
Thanks!
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread
* Re: About gcj present and future
2013-01-08 5:26 About gcj present and future Ernesto
@ 2013-01-08 9:53 ` Andrew Haley
2013-01-08 17:46 ` Ernesto
[not found] ` <CAOOf6hyQR4yLqR=89__cVr12U6tYzQW0POR0cwy=EUFX=fjk3g@mail.gmail.com>
0 siblings, 2 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Andrew Haley @ 2013-01-08 9:53 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Ernesto; +Cc: java
On 01/08/2013 05:26 AM, Ernesto wrote:
> I'm new on this mailing list and new to gcj and I find it fascinating.
> I have several questions about gcj present and future:
>
> 1. Are there new developments on it? Support for Java 7 language new
> features? (like automatic resource management or the new List<>()
> diamond constructors?)
GCJ doesn't have a Java source compiler, so it doesn't support any
particular Java source features. It relies on some other Java ->
bytecode compiler . GCJ is behind in terms of things like JSR 292,
(Supporting Dynamically Typed Languages on the Java Platform).
> 2. I installed it in a Xubuntu linux box and Swing works fine on it,
> but in Mac OS X Swing simply does not work. Is any Mac related work on
> it?
I don't think there is.
> 3. I read somewhere that gcj is in "active maintenance mode". Does
> that mean that we can trust it will be available in next versions of
> gcc? Or is there some plan to discontinue it? I want to start an app
> on it and I would want to know it will be available for several years
> now (CNI interface is a very amazing piece of technology).
Well, yes. Good question. I'd love to restart active development of
GCJ, but OpenJDK is free software and is way ahead in terms of
features. GCJ has some advantages, but so far these haven't been enough
to persuade people to work on it. If we don't do something soon it
may be too late.
Andrew.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread
* Re: About gcj present and future
2013-01-08 9:53 ` Andrew Haley
@ 2013-01-08 17:46 ` Ernesto
[not found] ` <CAOOf6hyQR4yLqR=89__cVr12U6tYzQW0POR0cwy=EUFX=fjk3g@mail.gmail.com>
1 sibling, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Ernesto @ 2013-01-08 17:46 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Andrew Haley; +Cc: java
>> 3. I read somewhere that gcj is in "active maintenance mode". Does
>> that mean that we can trust it will be available in next versions of
>> gcc? Or is there some plan to discontinue it? I want to start an app
>> on it and I would want to know it will be available for several years
>> now (CNI interface is a very amazing piece of technology).
>
> Well, yes. Good question. I'd love to restart active development of
> GCJ, but OpenJDK is free software and is way ahead in terms of
> features. GCJ has some advantages, but so far these haven't been enough
> to persuade people to work on it. If we don't do something soon it
> may be too late.
Could you please elaborate more on "way ahead in terms of features"?
Which features, for example?
Must we rely on the Java Class Libraries? Providing a nice set of
classes (an alternative framework) would be a feasible way to turn gcj
into a new life? (another UI framework, implementations on top of
existing native libre/open source, etc) As I told you in my first
email, I am new on gcj so maybe the things I'm writing on are unreal,
unfeasible or completely not applicable.
> Andrew.
Thanks!
Ernesto
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread
* Re: About gcj present and future
[not found] ` <CAOOf6hyQR4yLqR=89__cVr12U6tYzQW0POR0cwy=EUFX=fjk3g@mail.gmail.com>
@ 2013-01-08 18:06 ` Andrew Haley
0 siblings, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Andrew Haley @ 2013-01-08 18:06 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: java
On 01/08/2013 05:44 PM, Ernesto wrote:
>> Well, yes. Good question. I'd love to restart active development of
>> GCJ, but OpenJDK is free software and is way ahead in terms of
>> features. GCJ has some advantages, but so far these haven't been enough
>> to persuade people to work on it. If we don't do something soon it
>> may be too late.
>
> Could you please elaborate more on "way ahead in terms of features"?
> Which features, for example?
The Classpath library is somewhere between 1.5 and 1.6.
> Must we rely on the Java Class Libraries? Providing a nice set of
> classes (an alternative framework) would be a feasible way to turn gcj
> into a new life? (another UI framework, implementations on top of
> existing native libre/open source, etc) As I told you in my first
> email, I am new on gcj so maybe the things I'm writing on are unreal,
> unfeasible or completely not applicable.
Well, it's a huge job. A better idea IMO would be to fix gcj to use
the OpenJDK class library, which would take maybe half a programmer-
year for someone with the right experience.
Andrew.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread
* Re: About gcj present and future
2013-01-17 19:17 bbaker
@ 2013-01-17 19:29 ` Andrew Haley
0 siblings, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Andrew Haley @ 2013-01-17 19:29 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: bbaker; +Cc: java
On 01/17/2013 07:17 PM, bbaker@softhorizons.com wrote:
>
> GCJ has several cool features. The important one to me is CNI. A CNI
> interface to OpenJDK would be a positive step for the credibility of
> CNI and hence GCJ. Not to mention it would be extremely useful to
> OpenJDK.
>
> I'm a programmer, but I honestly have no idea the level of effert
> required for such a feature, or if it is even in the realm of
> realistic. I suspect there are both a brute-force-almost-impossible
> method and an extremely clever 10K SLOC method.
You wouldn't get CNI exactly, but it would certainly be possible
to get close. The C++ and Java type systems aren't really compatible,
so you'd have to be pretty devious.
Andrew.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread
* Re: About gcj present and future
@ 2013-01-17 19:17 bbaker
2013-01-17 19:29 ` Andrew Haley
0 siblings, 1 reply; 6+ messages in thread
From: bbaker @ 2013-01-17 19:17 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: java
GCJ has several cool features. The important one to me is CNI. A CNI
interface to OpenJDK would be a positive step for the credibility of
CNI and hence GCJ. Not to mention it would be extremely useful to
OpenJDK.
I'm a programmer, but I honestly have no idea the level of effert
required for such a feature, or if it is even in the realm of
realistic. I suspect there are both a brute-force-almost-impossible
method and an extremely clever 10K SLOC method.
bbaker
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2013-01-17 19:29 UTC | newest]
Thread overview: 6+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2013-01-08 5:26 About gcj present and future Ernesto
2013-01-08 9:53 ` Andrew Haley
2013-01-08 17:46 ` Ernesto
[not found] ` <CAOOf6hyQR4yLqR=89__cVr12U6tYzQW0POR0cwy=EUFX=fjk3g@mail.gmail.com>
2013-01-08 18:06 ` Andrew Haley
2013-01-17 19:17 bbaker
2013-01-17 19:29 ` Andrew Haley
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox;
as well as URLs for read-only IMAP folder(s) and NNTP newsgroup(s).