In a message dated 10/31/99 3:04:57 PM, you wrote:
<<Alain: Yes, I know that it is not the Java language
but rather the Virtual Machine concept and the
underlying bytecodes that makes Java multi-platform.
Java is .. um arguably the best implementation of the
VM approach though (so far).>>
Ever heard of Z-Code? Once apon a time, a company named Infocom needed a way
to get their text adventures ported to almost every mini-computer platform.
Apple, Atari, you name it. They invented Z-Code, a bytecode that could do
text, graphics, and fast enough to be emulated by Apples, Atari, PC,
Macintosh, Acorn, you name it. Of course, it had it's limits, but I thought
it was pretty cool. Interestingly enough, people still write in the C-like
language that is converted to Z-Code, and they think of it in the same way
that we think of hypertalk.
