Using gcj as an extension language

Thu Dec 19 11:14:00 GMT 2002

>>>> As to your list: Don't expect a working Swing in the forseeable
>>>> future. AWT, maybe. We already have RMI. CORBA we'll probably
>>>> handle through rhug (or we might follow Classpath; not sure yet). I
>>>> don't know about SOAP.

If I need SOAP, I have a choice between 12 different open-source projects in
Java, or native with Java bindings. Idem dito for CORBA and RMI. There are
73 XML libraries available; with new libraries springing up every day: small
footprint or functionally implementing the whole standard; whatever you
like. There are so many decent alternatives. These people are also extremely
helpful and support their users with a big heart. What value will GCJ add by
implementing all these things? Especially given the scarce resources? What
is GCJ's core business, actually?
AWT and Swing have had more than 5 years to iron out the glitches. Comes up
SWT; SWT succeeds, there where AWT and Swing have failed. Why have AWT and
Swing failed? On purpose? By negligence? Due to incompetence? Because of
arrogance? Probably the reason is a combination of all the aforementioned.
Java developers have been clamouring for a decent GUI toolkit for years. Now
IBM has released something that happens to work. Well, the time has come to
put AWT and Swing where they belong: in the trashcan.