Jim Wright

Multiplatform code isn't a new occurrence or concept in software development. C and even C++ are cross-platform languages if you only use the standard libraries and refrain from using the platform-specific options offered by your compiler vendor. A recompile is required, but the source code can be made to work without modification. Other languages are also available across platforms, including scripting languages like REXX, PERL and Python; they allow us to skip the recompiled, generalized languages like BASIC and COBOL, and other small-following or specialized languages like Forth. So what does Java offer that we don't get from these other tools? Furthermore, what problems do we, as multiplatform developers, still need to solve? This article addresses these questions a... (more)