Java on the ARM: Q&A with ARM’s Chris Porthouse
Java has muscled in all over the place over recent years, from enterprise level software, to web-based games on desktop PCs and right down to mobile phones. Down at the embedded level is where DigiTimes are looking today, in an interview with Chris Porthouse from ARM. ARM of course, produce many of the processors you'll find in hand-held devices and other equipment such as set top boxes and routers. Performance of Java on embedded platforms is now key, the development of which ARM has a hand in.
Quote:
Q: How does Jazelle technology, a hardware solution, achieve accelerated execution, as compared with the VTK?
A: With VTK, we replace this slow interpreter with a software interpreter. With Jazelle, we extend the ARM architecture to execute bytecode directly in the ARM core. And again with Jazelle, we replace the interpreter, in the Java VM, with a piece of software we call JTEK, the Java Technology Enabling Kit. This is how you enable the JVM to take full advantage of the Jazelle hardware beneath.
Interesting stuff if you have an interest in Java and embedded devices. Read the first part of the interview, with the second to follow tomorrow.
