[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Java & Tcl



On Tue, 30 Mar 1999, ea12 wrote:

> Hi,
> I wounder if ther is any defined linkage between java code and  Tcl code
> which enable using java  code in ns .

actually, if I look at the match between OTcl classes and java classes
(all objects really virtual etc) I suddenly wonder whether you could
rewrite the ns internals in java, while retaining the OTcl interface,
and whether any OTcl/java interfacing has been done. 

Pros: java is dead fashionable, which is why a lot of stuff gets
written in java or funding for same. possibly better, more robust
memory allocation and debugging, possibly harder for third parties
altering ns internals/writing agents to mess things up, possibly
cleaner interfaces etc. 

Cons: major slowdown/footprint scaleup, I should think; nasty for
large simulations. All that debugging rework. Ridiculous amounts of
unavailable manpower needed to do this, rather than doing triage on
what's there and cutting back to stuff that can be supported/works
well (set-address-format/multicast interactions?).  Assumes everyone
has a decent java compiler, when copious experience of this list
suggests that we're looking forward to the day that everyone has a
decent C/C++ compiler. Which will be egcs, come to think of it...

But since both Tcl and java are pretty much Sun initiatives, you ought
to be able to get Scriptics to do a lot of the work for you, once
you've talked them into extending Tcl with objects and picking _your_
object Tcl version as the way to go; there should be integration
benefits I can't quite grok a long way down the line, such as only
having one 'real' class hierarchy with the OTcl stuff directly
manipulating the java stuff, rather than this can-get-out-of-sync
shadow business. (hey, Sun: if you think the network is the computer,
do something to show it! After all, NFS didn't go standards-track...)

I can imagine java replacing C++ in ns, but java on top of the OTcl
stuff doesn't make any sense to me.

cheers,

L.

idly and probably erroneously ruminating.

<[email protected]>PGP<http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/>