[67] in java-interest
Re: Guile with Java-related features
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (David Harrison)
Mon May 8 19:00:03 1995
From: "David Harrison" <david@byrd.ba.msi.com>
Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 15:06:28 -0700
To: java-interest@java.Eng.Sun.COM
On May 8, 3:40pm, Wade Ogden wrote:
> It seems prudent (to me anyway) to maximize expirimentation as early as
> possible. Presently, SUN is open to our comments and suggestions
> (relating to JAVA). Later, when JAVA is more widely used, our ability to
> influence it will be greatly diminished. Subsets of, or extensions to the
VM,
> are legitimate areas of study which might yield some benefit to JAVA.
>
> Once concensus is reached on a topic, evolution becomes tedious and slow.
> Yes, we need to promote the stability of JAVA -- but now is not the time to
> use some conformance guage in order to outlaw free thinking/discussion.
Perhaps the language I used was too strong. I don't have problems with
an evolving VM design. I welcome the open approach taken by Sun to
incorporate good ideas into the Java infrastructure. I expect such
additions will continue in the future.
However, I do have recurring nightmares about a not so nice world where
a plethora of browsers each with their own VM interpreters inhabit the
internet. I see mass confusion as unknowledgeable users wonder why they
can't read a home page because their browser doesn't support some variant
VM machine flavor. I see VM machine designers who don't quite get it
and implement a browser with a "neat, powerful instruction set" that some
disgruntled programmer uses to destroy thousands of end-user file systems.
Worst of all, I can imagine lots of us in full battle gear debating
the best approach to VM design only to find that a much less technically
satisfying alternative is imposed upon us by our friends in Redmond WA.
Maybe I am asking too much but I would like to see an effort like this
move forward under one umbrella. It's obvious to me that those working
on Java have thought a lot about this problem. I am personally content
to let them hold the talisman for the time being.
--
David Harrison, MSI
(david@ba.msi.com)
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