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GVM is the working-name for a virtual machine written in C and designed to execute Java bytecodes.
GVM was started in March 1998, when we (primarily Paul Fisher) read an announcement stating that subsequent releases of Kaffe, a free software bytecode interpreter, would be no longer be free software--that they would have restrictions making them unsuitable for a free operating system to use. Although we could have picked up development of the current free release of Kaffe, we have chosen to implement a virtual machine from scratch.
GVM is being designed with robustness as the top priority. Current virtual machines for processing Java bytecodes have made leaps and bounds in terms of speed over the past couple of years, but not a single one is as stable as we think one should be.
Our target is that GVM version 1.0 will be compatible with version 1.1 of the Java language, at least. For later versions, once the ISO standardization of the Java language has begun, we plan to closely track and implement the standard.
GVM will be implemented in pieces as to allow people to begin using it for certain kinds of applications before it is finished. For example, if you have a text based, non-threaded application written in Java, then we hope you could start using GVM long before the full 1.0 release.
Stages of GVM . . .
The latest development information on GVM can be found at http://www.oryxsoft.com/projects/gvm.
If you want to help, and you have suitable skills and time to work, please contact Paul Fisher, rao@gnu.org.
Please send FSF & GNU inquiries & questions to gnu@gnu.org. There are also other ways to contact the FSF.
Please send comments on these web pages to webmasters@www.gnu.org, send other questions to gnu@gnu.org.
Copyright (C) 1998 Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111, USA
Verbatim copying and distribution is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.
Updated: 10 Mar 1998 rms