[1935] in java-interest
Re: Ready or not, here it comes...
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Glen C. Perkins)
Wed Sep 20 07:20:37 1995
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 01:36:59 -0700
To: java-interest@java.sun.com
From: Glen.Perkins@NativeGuide.com (Glen C. Perkins)
>
>From: Aleph One <aleph1@dfw.net>
>
>I would not guess as you did that the netscape plug-ins are written in
>Java. If you look closely to their press relase it says they are
>plattaform dependant. That does not sound like java. Could it be they
>where developing their on networked (yet non plattaform independant) language
>and when Java catched on fire they had to include it to? We'll see when
>it comes out.
>
I wasn't guessing that the plug-ins were *written* in Java, I was guessing
that they could be *driven* from Java. I know they're not written in Java.
They aren't applets. Something like the Macromedia Director player needs
higher performance than could be expected from an applet at this point. The
Director player is already freely available for both Macs and Windows as is
true with the Acrobat viewer. These standalone applications have just been
modified to conform to the plug-in API, not re-written in Java (I assume.)
When I said driven from "Java", though, I meant the Java that Netscape is
apparently using as the unifying scripting language that ties all the
various components of the new Netscape together. Since the Netscape
scripting language is "based on Java" (which in the absence of real FACTS,
I interpret as being nearly identical to Java but with different class
libraries because you can't remove much more from the language and still
have a language), I was *also* wondering if the Java applets would be able
to talk to the same Java APIs that the Java scripting language spoke to, at
least to some extent.
Arthur seems to be saying that this is NOT possible. I can certainly
imagine that security considerations might make it mandatory that applets
NEVER be allowed to talk to plug-ins. Anything that could make applets
dangerous to download could kill the market for applets.
__Glen__
Computer Enhancement of Vocabulary Memory--> http://www.NativeGuide.com
>On Tue, 19 Sep 1995, Glen C. Perkins wrote:
>
>>[yadda, yadda...]
>>
>> Netscape is clearly on its way to becoming a multiplatform operating system
>> for communicative apps (which could be most apps in a few short years.)
>>
>> It appears as though there will be APIs to drive the Macromedia Director
>> player, the Acrobat viewer, a RealAudio player, and any other plug-in that
>> conforms to the Netscape APIs from Java programs.
>>
>>[yadda, yadda]
>> __Glen__
>>
>> Computer Enhancement of Vocabulary Memory--> http://www.NativeGuide.com
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