Re: [Waba-spec] Waba and PJava

[Rony G. F. <Ron...@wu...>]

"Noel J. Bergman" wrote:

> I've been very busy lately, but I agree with the general statement that Waba
> should strive for (greater) compliance with Personal Java.  The announcement
> that every new 3800 series iPAQ will come loaded with Java
> (http://www.sun.com/smi/Press/sunflash/2001-10/sunflash.20011004.2.html)
> lends more weight behind the standard.
>
> In the case of Waba, I think that we have a lot to offer, especially with
> classes that are much smarter about the PDA environment, e.g., stylus-based
> UI and other PDA classes, such as Michael's support for PDA<->desktop
> interactions.
>
> But greater source compatibility with PersonalJava is important.

What for?
(Or better phrased: to what extent and why?)

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In the case of SuperWaba 2.0b4 it seems that Guich rewrote parts such that the
(Super)Waba applications are able to run unaltered under a plain vanilla JVM with
the JFC available. So this is good and opens up the field for (Super)Waba programs
to new environments per se.

No need to turn (Super)Waba into a true subset of Java. If someone really wants/needs
it then s/he would be better of using PJ and the likes.

---

Now, making some core (lang) classes in Waba/Java more compatible to Java's then this is
another discussion (and yes, personally, I would prefer that as well, *but* only as long
as the interfaces remain simple and (Super)Waba programs remain functional without
re-compiling).

One big advantage of (Super)Waba over Java is its concise set of classes, making it
much simpler than trying to master a huge mountain of massive of classes as is the case
with "classic" Java with its (important) sets of classes for different purposes. Also, many
classes offered by others compared to Java's are lightweighted in the sense, that they
do not implement a functionality comparable of an "egg-laying-wool-milk-sow" (as is
often the case with Sun's Java) but implement the core of the most-needed ("core")
functionality.

(Super)Waba allows almost anyone to master programming GUI-apps for PDAs within
a couple of weeks. Its user interfaces are more geared towards PDAs. And it runs on
non-overpowered-PDAs (like WindowsCE machines with 200+ MHz). Hence its potential
remains intact for merging with wireless phones etc. at least in the next couple of years to
come.

---

So, no, I would not think it desirable that (Super)Waba becomes a true subset of Java,
although all of the used core classes (mostly the lang stuff) should have as much of the
same interfaces as the true Java in order to make switching over to (Super)Waba as
easy as possible.

Just my two cents ...

---rony