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... compatibility ... | 451 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
Here's my stab at answering some easy ones
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, May 03 2012 @ 08:01 PM EDT
re 13. Zero
Not a single java application that does something remotely useful will work
"as-is" on Android as distributed by Google.

Can you add additional Java packages so that Java apps will run? Yes.

Are there Java applications that can be fixed to run on Android with some minor
modifications? Yes

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Here's my stab at answering some easy ones
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, May 03 2012 @ 08:08 PM EDT
Yes, Java supports nested classes. They are called "inner classes".

MSS2

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

... compatibility ...
Authored by: mbouckaert on Thursday, May 03 2012 @ 08:11 PM EDT

I do not think that the choice of the-Java-source-syntax and of the-Java-class-signatures was done to provide 100% compatibility. Devices running the apps are too different.

IMHO, there were two reasons:

  • As observed myriads of time above, because programmers do not want to learn new syntax and new libraries for every project they happen to work on.
  • At least as important: Partial reuse. If an application already exists in Java, on any kind of device, the classes that implement the core behavior of the class can be recompiled on Android, and a new set of classes that match the Android physical environment (i.e. what it can do based on the senses it has -- vision, location, hearing, whatever) written so they can call the core behavior.
    That way, the whole (ok, 80% of the) rewrite/debug cycle for the part that makes the app valuable can be omitted.
  • The core behavior needs not have existed on any portable device. There's a lot of domains where valuable problem-solving knowledge was encapsulated in Java code, on anything from desktop to mainframe, and wrapped according to the platform. For such, Javalike Android extends the "runs everywhere" and therefore helps Java.

    ---
    bck

    [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

    A program doesn't have to be "completely" compatible
    Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, May 03 2012 @ 11:46 PM EDT
    Even if a program is not 100% compatible (because it uses a few things that e.g.
    Java provides but Android does not)...

    Its still useful for it to be 95% compatible, because the programmer just has to
    fix that other 5% to have a working program on the new platform.

    If Oracle gets its way, future platform inventors will have to avoid existing
    APIs like the plague, and programs that might have been 80% already-compatible
    or 95% already-compatible will instead be completely incompatible and will need
    to be completely rewritten from scratch, using a completely dissimilar set of
    APIs.

    In effect, everyone solving the same kind of problems will have to find obtuse,
    difficult APIs for their solutions to make sure they don't "infringe"
    on other people's existing APIs for the same problem space. Which would be
    absolutely crazy.

    Possibly more crazy than allowing software patents and handing them out like
    candy on Halloween...

    [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

    Here's my stab at answering some easy ones
    Authored by: Nivag on Friday, May 04 2012 @ 01:55 PM EDT
    Java supports nested classes, I often use them to impement ActionListeners etc.

    [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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