Re: basic question of GCJ

[Tom Tromey <tromey at redhat dot com>]

>>>>> "Steve" == Steve Ni <list at boyi-online dot com> writes:

Steve> It seems GCJ group rewrote all code in Sun JDK's java.* and
Steve> javax.* class(generally, found in Sun's rt.jar). I really
Steve> wonder if it's good way.

It's the only way, given our goals and Sun's licensing.  Our goal is a
complete free software Java environment.  Sun's code isn't free
software.

Steve> If GCJ rewrite all java.* or javax.* package, could you
Steve> gurantee these package is stable like Sun's ? And Sun release
Steve> some new java.* api in JDK1.4, for example: java.nio.*, how can
Steve> I use those new API?

We have (admittedly incomplete) test suites and we try libgcj with
real Java applications.

For new packages, well, usually someone comes along and writes them.
For instance Michael Koch is writing java.nio.

Steve> Is it possible that I compile my code with java.* and javax.* in Sun's
Steve> rt.jar( certainly, except AWT&SWING) instead of GCJ's libgcj provided?

Perhaps, though I'd imagine it will violate your license with Sun.

Steve> It also can be accecpted if I just compile my source code and
Steve> leave jmf as class package. Is it possible compile my project
Steve> by GCJ?

You can compile .class files to object, if that's what you're asking.

Steve> 3) When I release my project, are there some additional library
Steve> requried?

Yes, libgcj.so on Unixy boxes; on Windows things are a bit different.

Steve> Furthermore, I just want to confirm my concept of GCJ: when
Steve> running my compiled project, for example, input "myprj" to
Steve> startup program, when mypri execute to some class file(As above
Steve> mentioned, if I leave jmf as classes package. ), does it load
Steve> those classes automatically? Is gij required?

I don't understand the question.  In general you compile everything to
native, just as you would do for a C program.  You can use .class
files at runtime if you prefer.  The interpreter is built in to
libgcj.so, so you don't need gij separately if you have a mix of
compiled and interpreted code.  That isn't the usual way to use it
though.

Tom