[2023] in java-interest
Re: Decompilation of JAVA bytecode to source
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Larry Reu)
Fri Sep 22 00:39:49 1995
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 18:29:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: Larry Reu <larryr@CyberGate.COM>
To: John Marsh <jmarsh@mitre.org>
cc: java-interest@java.sun.com
In-Reply-To: <9509211735.AA10726@lash.mitre.org>
On Thu, 21 Sep 1995, John Marsh wrote:
> Java'ers
>
> Unfortunately I lost the thread that this email really responds to...
>
> As previously noted, it is possible, though not particularly easy, to
> decompile bytecode to source.
>
> My understanding is that when the architecture neutral distribution format
> (ANDF) people at OSF developed the ANDF spec, they spent a lot of time
> ensuring that it was "not possible" to decompile ANDF code to source. They
> were extremely concerned about intellectual property issues associated with
> giving people mechanisms that permitted access to source. They believed
> that if it were not possible to protect source, it would be significantly
> more difficult to get vendors to sign up to deliver their code in ANDF. (Of
> course ANDF never went anywhere, but that is/may be a different issue...)
>
> It seems to me that it would not be a good idea to ignor the ANDF work on
> source access as JAVA goes forward, otherwise it might limit the potential
> for the future.
> John Marsh
> The MITRE Corporation
>
I'm not sure I see the big concern. A java class (executable if you
will) is a binary file made of ob Java-VM byte-codes. Unless losts of
debug symbols are also in the file there is no source code. Only byte
code. Yes the byte-codes can be disassembled just like any binary on any
common system can be disassembled. This makes converting Java-byte-code
into high-level source just as easy/hard (depending on you view) as any
existing binary.
perhaps I'm missing something?
..........larry
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