Timeline for What prevented compiled languages from being adopted on the web originally, as opposed to JavaScript?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 22, 2020 at 11:12 | comment | added | JacquesB | @JörgWMittag Yeah but the Java language spec is specifically coupled to the JVM, see for example this section: docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se14/html/jls-12.html - I understand you prefer independence between language and implementation, but not all language designers agree with this. | |
| Jun 22, 2020 at 10:48 | comment | added | Jörg W Mittag | @JacquesB: The byte code format is actually part of the JVM specification. Java does not depend on the JVM nor vice versa. It is perfectly possible (as was demonstrated by e.g. GCJ) to have a Java implementation that does not use a JVM. | |
| Jun 22, 2020 at 9:51 | comment | added | JacquesB | The bytecode format is part of the Java specification, so I would argue Java is ahead-of-time compiled by definition. Any language where a bytecode or object code or binary format is part of the specification is IMHO a compiled language by definition. | |
| Jun 20, 2020 at 14:40 | comment | added | Jörg W Mittag | @RobertHarvey: HotJava was the first browser that allowed client-side scripting, even before LiveScript / JavaScript. (Depending on how you define it. HotJava 1.0 was released after Navigator 2.02, but development releases were available before Netscape was even founded.) HotJava was itself written in Java, and client-side scriptability via Applets was fully builtin, as was extendability, with extensions also written in Java. Also, why does it matter if something is shipped with the browser or as a plugin? | |
| Jun 20, 2020 at 8:42 | comment | added | Jörg W Mittag | In that case, the answer is trivial: before LiveScript/JavaScript, the language of the browser was JVM byte code, and that was a failure. | |
| Jun 20, 2020 at 6:22 | comment | added | occipita | While I usually agree with this sentiment, in this precise context it is irrelevant: any method used for scripting web pages would need a defined method for transferring the code to the end user - either as text source code or using some kind of predefined bytecode or other virtual machine instruction set. As I interpret the question, it is why the former was chosen rather than the latter. | |
| Jun 20, 2020 at 5:48 | history | answered | Jörg W Mittag | CC BY-SA 4.0 |