Re: VMInterface addition: Make native library names part ofVMInterface

[Etienne Gagnon]

Mark Wielaard wrote:
> > > I think that is in fact what Mark was suggesting and I think this is
> > > definitely a good idea. There are a lot of VMs that don't (want to) use
> > > JNI for their "native" methods. Having all native methods in the VM*
> > > classes makes this much easier.
>
>
> I was suggesting that. Sorry for not responding earlier. But having you
> and Patrik affirm that it is a good thing is more valuable then when
> 'the guy without his own VM' says it :)

I am also strongly in favor of putting all VM-specific native methods in
VM* classes, and all library-specific native methods outside of VM* classes.

It even helps for code maintenance, and you can then use automated tools
to look for missing native implementations in the VM very easily.  Same
applies to class library.

> Hopefully we won't do it at the expense of elegance 'and' efficiency,
> but I agree that sometimes it won't be possible to achieve both. As our
> Hacker Guide puts it (even though it leaves out elegance):
>
>         When you write code for Classpath, write with three things in
>         mind, and in the following order: portability, robustness, and
>         efficiency.
>         
>         If efficiency breaks portability or robustness, then don't do it
>         the efficient way. If robustness breaks portability, then
>         bye-bye robust code. Of course, as a programmer you would
>         probably like to find sneaky ways to get around the issue so
>         that your code can be all three ...
>
> And I am also sure that there might be better designs then the grouping
> of platform dependent methods into their own VMInterface classes for
> some VMs. 

I habve yet to find time for it, but I should within the upcoming months.
I see the possibility to use m4-like macros so that most VMs would share
VM*.java implementations, but be able to apply changes to them without
disrupting other VMs.

Etienne

--
Etienne M. Gagnon, Ph.D.             http://www.info.uqam.ca/~egagnon/
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