Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Java vs MS Common Runtime

Author:Paul Snively
Posted:7/24/2000; 3:34:05 PM
Topic:Java vs MS Common Runtime
Msg #:18973 (In response to 18972)
Prev/Next:18972 / 18974

Timothy O'Hear: what's the chance of MS's runtime being available on other platforms. Mac? Linux?

I put the probability at 0.

Or third parties writing compatible runtimes?

I put the probability at ~.1.

Can Sun eventually succeed in delivering a platform that runs reliably on a variety of systems?

No, but it's not necessary for them to; as long as we're talking about Java 1.1 there are credible implementations among those available from Sun, IBM, and Apple. To the extent there's a problem, it stems as much from expecting all the implementations to come from Sun as it does from the implementations themselves.

Is C++ (with home-rolled system class wrappers) still the only way to write code that's truly portable?

No, by definition, since C++ object code isn't at all portable. We're not yet at the point where the most worthwhile things the Internet can do involve dynamically loading code across the Internet, but it would be foolhardy to presume that that will continue not to be the case over the next 5-10 years. On the other hand, it would also be foolhardy to presume that the technology that will best be applied to that goal will be Java bytecodes.

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