#Hot Java
5 messages in this thread
Here are some infos about Hot Java and the Amiga:
HotJava
HotJava is an extensible web browser implemented in the Java programming
language. The language and browser have been developed by Sun Microsystems, but
Sun are making the source code available to those wishing to port Java and
HotJava to platforms other than their own.
Java is an object-orientated language similar to C++, but without pointer
arithmetic and with true arrays, garbage collection, extensive validity
checking and support for multithreading. Java is designed to allow programs
(applets) to be transmitted (in bytecode form) across the net and then run as a
thread of the browser receiving them. A Java applet could be used to verify a
form before sending it, animate a graphic, and many other things. It also means
that HotJava is readily extensible by anyone able to write applets.
All this means that Java must be secure and the language attempts to ensure
that it is safe to run an applet before it does so.
HotJava, the browser, is still under development. It handles some of the tags
that have been made de-facto standards by Netscape, but not all. It cannot, for
example, handle tables. On the other hand, it can do things that Netscape would
find impossible.
P'Jami – Porting Java to the Amiga
A group has formed to port Java and HotJava to the Amiga Operating System.
P'Jami is the name for the resulting browser.
Why HotJava and not Netscape?
A lot of discussion went on on comp.sys.amiga.networking about the possibility
of porting Netscape Navigator to the Amiga. Netscape is a good browser (I use
it myself at work) and Netscape have announced that they will support Java in a
future version of their Navigator browser. However, Netscape Navigator is a
proprietary program. The source code is controlled by Netscape and has not been
made available for porting purposes.
HotJava, on the other hand, is controlled by Sun, but its source code is
available to be ported to platforms other than those Sun are working on. It is,
as yet, not as good a browser as Navigator, but there is no reason to suppose
that it will remain in its current state. Many people believe that HotJava
could take over from Navigator as the next de-facto standard browser. We'll
have to wait and see.
niall@hedgehog.demon.co.uk
—
bye,
Lothar Bartsch
Lothar,
I take it that the lack of pointer arithmetic is for security reasons?
Brian
Been there…. Done that…. Better.
> I take it that the lack of pointer arithmetic is for security reasons?
Yes. The Java group also stated in the docs that it tends to lead to bugs in
software.
Steve,
actually, I think it goes beyond that. In any machine that doesn't fully
use an MMU, a Hot Java task could, theoretically, search for another task and
alter it. Yet another reason to implement the MMU on the Amiga.
It does make me wonder though, exactly how tight is the security. I think
I'll need to go to the site and check out the exact implementation. The
slightest hole could spell real problems down the road, and not just for this
machine. That is what impressed me about the General Magic implementation,
they seemed to close even the most insignificant holes.
Brian
Been there…. Done that…. Better.
The site is at java.sun.com. Chuck McManis (an Amiga guy from way back) is
doing most (if not all) of the security work on this stuff.
Since Java has no concept of pointers, how would a task go about finding
something in the system, even in a machine without an MMU? I can't come up
with one.
Java's definately worth checking out. 🙂
Steve