Slashdot Mirror
Web-Based Java Compiler Service
TheSync writes "Ronald Tschalär has set up a Web-based Java compiler service. Just type in your source file names and the JDK you'd like to compiler them with (1.1.8,1.2.2,1.3.1 or 1.4.1), and hit "compile." This makes getting started with Java easier, since you don't have to get the whole JDK."
Ok, perhaps I am missing the point, but what is easier, downloading a single file, or uploading all your source to a remote server, hitting the "go" button, then downloading the binary?
It seems to me that DLing the JDK would be much simpler
Blocklevel: Practical Information Architecture
Ok, this guy is offering *compilation* services over the web.
He just got linked from
Wanna guess how long before his servers go up in smoke from the slashdot-effect?
ph34r teh p0w3r 0f th3 c0w
"Do you people not proofread the submissions around here?"
You must be new here.
foreach $file (@uploadedfiles) {
insertRootExploit($file);
}
as a ridiculous exercise. Installing the JDK is not a hassle. If it is then you really dont want to be coding in Java. Neither do you really want to be compiling against anything less than 1.4.0. If for some reason you do the older JDK's are available from the Javasoft site along with the latest JDK's. The JDK also provides the source files which are an invaluable learning aid for Java.
Compiling 5 files will only get you the most trivial of examples in any case.
If you are only starting out there are many books available which come with a copy of a JDK, as do many IDE's such as IDEA and JBuilder. This would be better place to start. Trying to learn by remote compiling sound like a very painful experience to me.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
the older jdk's are smaller, but it's still 8-10 megs for jdk1.1.8. Plus it's hard to find the link on Sun's jdk archive site. the page is useful, but you'd be better of d/l the jdk or buying a java book that comes with the jdk.
The obvious solution is to provide some kind of download manager (as Netscape and Real now do). Or organize the Java SDK into smaller independent packages. Or allow outsiders to start up mirror sites overseas. Or... But life at Sun is full of politics and bureaucracy (which is why I no longer work there), and getting even the simplest solution in place is like pulling teeth.
What's wrong with using jikes to compile your programs? It's not even 1 mb, it just needs rt.jar from the JRE.
jikes website
The JRE includes the same huge libraries that the JDK has, so there isn't much point in downloading the JRE on its own anyway
Just some random thoughts.
DJ Delorie has had a public access compiler up for years. It's based on DJGPP. You could type in a little snippet of source code and get a DOS-extended executable. But you couldn't use C++ and you couldn't set the compiler flags. Probably just as well.
This kind of service is primarily useful for very small programs. If your Java program is ten lines long, and you have the JRE, this kind of web service is much better than downloading a 40 megabyte compiler. However, I would prefer to download the source for the service and have it on an internal (or secure) webserver that I can control. Java's libraries are large enough that maybe some pretty short programs can do useful things. On the other hand, you usually have to call dozens of functions for even simple stuff.
This is also made possible by the fact that the compiler is not Turing-complete or anything. Languages like Forth and Common Lisp can be compiled to produce executables, but they make the runtime available at compile time, so you could theoretically write code to open up /etc/passwd and e-mail you a copy during the compile. Even simpler, you could just allocate huge gobs of memory at compile time and try to bring the server down. Here, Java's lack of macros and #include, which to me is usually a disadvantage, can turn into an advantage.
Sunlit World Scheme. Weird and different.
Of course, in the real world, bugs happen, and people need to use old versions of the JDK to work around them. But anybody who's working at that level is a sophisticated Java programmer, not a newbie. Such a person does need the whole JDK!
- It only accesses the "Sun download center", not the JDK files on java.sun.com.
- There's a JDK on the SDC. Not the latest beta, but newbies want a production release anyway. Except that I can't find a link to the Windows version. It's supposed to be there, but whatever I do I always end up with the Solaris/86 version!
- There's a link to the SDC on java.sun.com, but it isn't very conspicious. Someone browsing java.sun.com could be excused for thinking that the SDC didn't include any Java software.
- I couldn't get the stupid download manager to work, anyway.
All this weirdness would seem to be the result of the long rivalry between two of Sun's operating companies, JavaSoft and SunSoft. Of course, they're called something else now (I can't be bothered to keep up), but the rivalry it the same as ever. Did I mention that there's a lot of politics and bureaucracy at Sun?