Re: [xmlvm-users] Supporting native methods + Apache Harmony Java Runtime implementation

[Arno P. <ar...@pu...>]

Markus Heberling wrote:
> I would be interested in such a solution.
> 
> Combined with this: http://code.google.com/p/jnaerator/ we would have a 
> full java environment with full access to all Objective/C frameworks.

I looked at jnaerator a while ago. Again I'm personally a little divided 
over such an approach. The big appeal is certainly to get complete 
coverage very quickly. However, I find the jnaerator-generated Java 
binding "ugly". To be a little more specific what I mean by that: right 
now we take the (labor intensive) approach of custom-designing the Java 
API from the Objective-C counterpart. The benefit is a natural looking 
Java interface that you can still relate very easily to its original 
(which makes it easy to consult Apple's documentation). In some cases we 
have also made use of Java's strong-typedness: instead of passing an 
arbitrary selector for a delegate we have introduced strongly-typed Java 
interfaces which is much more in the spirit of the Java programming 
language.

Again there are pros and cons for either approach. Perhaps we can 
achieve the best of both worlds: first use jnaerator to generate the 
Java API and then create custom APIs for certain parts.

Anyone interested in doing a proof-of-concept with jnaerator? Ideally I 
would like to see a patch to XMLVM that integrates jnaerator and creates 
the Java API for a selected UIKit class. Any contenders?

Arno