Re: [Sablevm-developer] Obsoleting sablevm-classpath NOW!

[Etienne G. <gag...@uq...>]

SableVM does not have *any* sablevm-specific class.  It simply uses
the /vm/reference classes with very *minor* modifications (currently
some changes are more than minor simply because it has not yet been
put into upstream classpath; e.g. fills in reflection classes, etc.).

SableVM needs no Java classes of its own.  Also, strictly speaking, a
class outside glibj.zip (which, by the way, should be called libclasspath.jar)
is in a *different* runtime package than any class withing this file,
if one is to follow closely the JVM spec, so the package-private classes
have to live in libclasspath.jar.

Also, I see no reason for SableVM to need to build classpath twice:
- once to build classpath itself, and
- once to re-build the VM*.java classes just for sablevm to be able
   to put those classes in an awkward place on the system...

I really do not see various VMs sharing the same Classpath installation;
ther would be just too much possible problems.

So, to answer your question: out-of-the-box means:
1- A user downloads SableCC (written in C) and compiles it (needs gcc).
2- Same user downloads Classpath (written in C and Java), and compiles it
    (needs gcc and jikes).
3- User runs Java software. :-)

No hacks, no special classes in special directories, no ugly things.  It
just plainly works with (eventually) a single .jar file (+ .so files).
[Currently needs classes in directory tree.  Zlib patch pending commit
in SableVM tree...]


Etienne

Steven Augart wrote:
> Etienne:  Jikes RVM uses a stock classpath build.  All it does is copy 
> Classpath's glibj.zip and the .so files over to its own local storage 
> place.
> 
> We get away with this because we put our own classes earlier in the path 
> than Classpath's.  So we always get our own implementation of VMRuntime, 
> for instance, and never see Classpath's.  Ditto for all of the other VM* 
> classes, I believe.
> 
> I'm not sure what improved level of working out-of-the-box you would 
> want beyond that.  Perhaps I have misunderstood what you're suggesting?
> 
> --Steve Augart

-- 
Etienne M. Gagnon, Ph.D.             http://www.info.uqam.ca/~egagnon/
SableVM:                                       http://www.sablevm.org/
SableCC:                                       http://www.sablecc.org/