3 ms·

> If Oracle ultimately wins, it seems like millions of programmers will have to reach for a thesaurus to find synonyms to name functions. I think you are a bit

> If Oracle ultimately wins, it seems like millions of programmers will have to reach for a thesaurus to find synonyms to name functions. I think you are a bit off the mark on this line. (mostly agree with the rest of your post) Google's goal was to make a white-room implementation of java that was 100% api compatible. This was explicitly to avoid licensing Java while still being Java compatible.

zaphar 6y ago
I don't think this is true. Google doesn't let you run java that was compiled for the JVM. They have an entirely different mechanism that is not the jvm for their java code to compile to. All they did was port the language to a new compile target. When you port a language over you also port the standard library or at least the parts that you need. This is standard across the industry. Every language implementation does it. What Oracle is trying to say is that you need a license to do it and that is a dramatic change in the industry practice right now. It's also short sighted. If Oracle wins then you'll need a license to implement java the language (as opposed to the JVM) anywhere. Short term Oracle get's a pile of money. Long term everyone stops using Java. But then again if you are Oracle, with it's current values, Java's only real value is short term money gains. It's hard to make money on a programming language the way Oracle prefers to operate so this may be the best they can do.
- colejohnson66 6y ago
  Assuming Oracle wins, could the people at WG21 sue anyone who implemented C++? They wouldn’t as they work on the compilers, but I’m asking in theory.
  - monocasa 6y ago
    Or better yet let's not talk about the people at WG21, but instead their employers (and whoever acquires their employers in the future) and what is in those employees' contracts about IP they create that is owned by those companies.

zaphar 6y ago

I don't think this is true. Google doesn't let you run java that was compiled for the JVM. They have an entirely different mechanism that is not the jvm for their java code to compile to. All they did was port the language to a new compile target. When you port a language over you also port the standard library or at least the parts that you need. This is standard across the industry. Every language implementation does it. What Oracle is trying to say is that you need a license to do it and that is a dramatic change in the industry practice right now. It's also short sighted. If Oracle wins then you'll need a license to implement java the language (as opposed to the JVM) anywhere. Short term Oracle get's a pile of money. Long term everyone stops using Java. But then again if you are Oracle, with it's current values, Java's only real value is short term money gains. It's hard to make money on a programming language the way Oracle prefers to operate so this may be the best they can do.

colejohnson66 6y ago
Assuming Oracle wins, could the people at WG21 sue anyone who implemented C++? They wouldn’t as they work on the compilers, but I’m asking in theory.
- monocasa 6y ago
  Or better yet let's not talk about the people at WG21, but instead their employers (and whoever acquires their employers in the future) and what is in those employees' contracts about IP they create that is owned by those companies.