vj#:
Hi!

Why is the J# Redistributable Package needed to run a J# application? Or
can I just redistribute some assemblies?

For example, if I develop an application in Borland Delphi using
WinForms, I can compile this application to an exe file. This exe file
can be executed on any computer that has the .Net Runtime Framework
installed. No Delphi .Net Redistributable Package exists.

If I develop an application in Dephi using the VCL.NET api all I have to
do is to redistribute the VCL.NET assembly. That's easy. No problem here.

So the fact is that it is possible to develop a new language for .Net
(Object Pascal) and don't require some special installation packages.
And it makes sense since the exe file is language independent IL code.

Why is J# so special? Or is it?

[quoted text, click to view]

It is because it includes support for a Java-like class library that is not
part of main framework.

Regards,
Will

[quoted text, click to view]

Yes, I can understand that I need to redistribute all class libraries
that I use.

For example, if I'm developing a .Net application with Borland Delphi
using Borlands class library VCL.NET I need to redistribute the file
Borland.VCL.dll with my application. That file is of course not included
in the main framework.

But I _don´t_ need to install some "Borland Delphi Redistributable
Package for .Net".

So my question remains: Why does J# applications require the J#
Redistributable Package? What is that installer doing? Why can't I just
redistribute those class library I'm using?

Or if I'm developing a J# application that only uses classes from the
main framework? In that case J# package shouldn't be needed.

I'm starting to guess that J# applications isn't pure IL code.

[quoted text, click to view]

To be honest, I don't know how it is implemented.

Regards,
Will

[quoted text, click to view]

Delphi maybe compiles all the VCL etc. stuff into your assembly (as it does
on Win32 - it has two options, to build a single .exe or use dynamic
packages [dlls]). J# isn't supporting such a thing, although maybe it would
be nice if it could. Problem is that some J# library classes need more
privildges than your app code (say the Java security manager, class loader
etc.), so if the installer compiled that stuff into your app you could hack
it and gain more privildeges for your app code too

if you copied the signed J# libraries with your app it should work I think,
but maybe MS don't want you to ship arround various versions of their
libraries (which is bad, since .NET allows one to have private assemblies
for just their own application [in same folder] without affecting other
apps, just to be sure that after an app is tested it works [quite] as
expected since it ships the libraries it had been tested with and doesn't
use shared libraries, if developer choose to do so)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
George Birbilis <birbilis@kagi.com>
Microsoft Most Valuable Professional
MVP J# for 2004, 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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