Running C in a Java World

November 1996 / State Of The Art / Sun Gambles on Java Chips / Running C in a Java World

The picoJava design team knew it had to overcome one major hurdle: the Java language has no instructions for manipulating a computer's main memory. Most computers use memory locations to handle all input and output. For example, getting input from a mouse or a keyboard requires reading directly from mem ory. For security and safety reasons, Java won't allow this, which is why many system designers believe Java is unusable as a general system language.
But picoJava designers had a trick up their sleeves. They simply added new bytecode instructions for reading and writing memory. These instructions won't work on a Java-ready browser, but they will work f or Java chips. Someone could even write an entire OS in Java. You also could compile C for Java-only chips and convert memory references. In fact, C is similar enough to Java that a Java chip running C might be faster than a C chip emulating Java.

Up to the State Of The Art section contents

Go to previous article: Running C in a Java World

Go to next article: The x86 Gets Faster with Age

Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it is theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.

more...

BYTE Digest editors every month analyze and evaluate the best articles from Information Week, EE Times, Dr. Dobb's Journal, Network Computing, Sys Admin, and dozens of other CMP publications—bringing you critical news and information about wireless communication, computer security, software development, embedded systems, and more!

Find out more

BYTE CD-ROM

NOW, on one CD-ROM, you can instantly access more than 8 years of BYTE.

The Best of BYTE
Volume 1: Programming Languages

In this issue of Best of BYTE, we bring together some of the leading programming language designers and implementors...

Copyright © 2005 CMP Media LLC, Privacy Policy, Your California Privacy rights, Terms of Service
Site comments: webmaster@byte.com
SDMG Web Sites: BYTE.com, C/C++ Users Journal, Dr. Dobb's Journal, MSDN Magazine, New Architect, SD Expo, SD Magazine, Sys Admin, The Perl Journal, UnixReview.com, Windows Developer Network