[Mono-list] Wheen someone asks about java...

[Bob Salita]

>In principle, it is possible to compile unmodified
>C/C++ to moderately usable JVM code; it has been done
>for other, similar platforms about 15 years ago.  I'm
>unconvinced that it is worth doing, however.
>
>I also think it would be pretty easy to extend a
>JVM to interoperate automatically with a C/C++
>runtime,
>either based on bytecodes or based on native code.
>GNU gcj is one example, and adapting and integrating
>EiC or CINT into a JVM wouldn't be so hard either.

Why do you suppose there isn't a C compiler for JVM? Its not that
no one has thought of it or attempted it. Its because JVM
is C unfriendly. JVM was never designed to support C. We know
this because the JVM doesn't support unsigned data type.
For this and other reasons, its problematic to implement C.
OTOH, CLR was designed to support all major languages.
Unless C and C++ can be implemented under JVM, there's no
way JVM will be considered as an alternative VM to CLR.

OTOH, perhaps C# can be implemented under the JVM.
Rhys believes unsigned and other C# related implementation problems
can be overcome by using method calls or other work arounds.
He's writing a C# to JVM compiler. If he can make it work,
it will be a very important contribution to the Java community.

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