Re: Ok, so we have a list...

Hi, Dave

At 11:34 AM 10/6/97 CST, you wrote:

>... to discuss JAVA on the '400.
>
>My question is: Is JAVA *REALLY* as platform independant as it's
>supposed to be?
>
>Will I be able to take a JAVA program on the Mac, that uses GUI
>elements, and copy the object it over to the '400 and run it on a
>greenscreen w/o modifications?


I think the answer to this is an unqualified "No". The AWT classes are nominally GUI and will not translate to a green screen. The Hursley lab that is doing Java for the AS/400 (and other IBM platforms) hasn't talked much about this, except to say there're are no AWT classes for AS/400. It seems to me, though, that it should be possible to translate the presentatiion paradigms from one to the other, especially if UIM were to be a part of the picture, or the virtual dispaly API functions.

I still think Java may not be the answer for business apps—yet. This is mostly because it doesn't seem to handle display files, etc., yet. But these things are always changing—stay tuned may be our byword for some time! <vbg>


>The be honest... I have my doubts. "C" was supposed to allow us to
>be platform independant, but it never materilized as a worthwhile
>solution for "Real" applications (I consider real applications to be
>things in the relm of A/P, A/R, G/L, etc).
>
>In order to be TRULY platform independant, the interface elements
>would have to seek the lowest common denominator... and that
>precludes any GUI elements. The interface would end up being
>strictly text based.


I agree wholeheartedly—see above.


>Don't get me wrong... I *LIKE* the idea of JAVA... and think that, if
>any system can truly support a platform independant object system,
>the AS/400 is the one (Heck, they've been platform independant from
>the get-go)... I'm just a pesemist :)


I did write the simple "Hello, world!" app that is the first thing in Sun's Java tutorial (downloadable, BTW). I took it to the 400 in source, compiled it with the beta Java compiler, on the 400, and ran it—IT ACTUALLY WORKED! (not a flame). I believe the byte-code object could've been brought over directly, but I didn't try that yet. So I feel there is portability up to the point of using AWT. That's one of the big sticky wickets I see for now.

Cheers


Vernon Hamberg
Systems Software Programmer
Old Republic National Title Insurance Company
400 Second Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2499
(612) 371-1111 x480


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