Responding to Linux developer community demand, IBM Research has released the source to its Jikes Java compiler. Until now, Jikes had been available only in binary form, but as of Monday December 7 the source code has been available for free download under what is described as a fairly unrestrictive license. Unlike rival javac, which Sun ships with its Java Development Kit (JDK), Jikes adheres very strictly to the Java language specification. Because javac was developed while Java was still evolving, its adherence to the spec is not as correct as it might be. The Jikes developers say they will continue to seek Sun’s guidance on the proper interpretation of the spec. Jikes began in 1996 when IBM’s Philippe Charles decided to study the problem of compiling Java. He was later joined by David Shields. Their compiler was released in April 1997, and became one of the most frequently downloaded offerings on IBM’s alphaworks site. By July 15, 1998, intense customer demand had led to the release of a Linux version, which proved to be even more popular. Linux developers called on IBM to release the source to Jikes, and Big Blue listened. The Jikes team says the development process will be closely modeled on the Apache Project. Communication will take place in full view on public mailing lists. Other groups within Research may also release their work as open source, but the Jikes leaders warn that their license won’t necessarily set the tone for future releases. Other Open Source agreements from IBM, including IBM Research, if and when they do come, are likely to be more restrictive with respect to commercial use, Charles wrote, we are allowing almost any use for Jikes because we believe it benefits the Java community and doesn’t give away any intellectual property. Since Jikes is a research project, all it does is compile source to bytecode. Charles and Shields caution that is it not intended to be a replacement for or alternative to IBM’s industrial- strength VisualAge for Java development environment, which does much more than merely compile. IBM has also hinted that a just-in-time compiler is in the works, which will not only compile Java but which should improve its comparatively sluggish performance. Java’s reputation as a good language for rapid development and deployment in heterogeneous environments is tempered by the fact that its very portability makes it slow. Wide availability of a fast JIT would go a long way towards making the language more palatable for use by independent software vendors (ISVs) and their customers, the IT departments of big corporations.
