LOGIN | REGISTER NOW | SUBSCRIBE
 

Java Becoming Solution for Safety-Critical Applications


By Jennifer deJong
Email    print   
August 16, 2007 —  (Page 1 of 2)
Safety-critical applications—such as those that let an aircraft fly on autopilot—have long been written in Ada or C/C++. But now Java appears poised to become the language of choice for developing software that cannot afford to fail.

“The industry wants to leverage mainstream technologies for safety-critical development efforts,” said Kelvin Nilsen, chief technology officer for Aonix, which released PERC Pico, its safety-critical Java offering earlier this year. Writing such applications in Java provides technical advantages compared with developing them in C/C++, he said. “C and C++ expose the programmer to vulnerabilities that made the code difficult to maintain and certify. Those languages were not designed for safety-critical applications.”

But Ada was. And if it falls out of favor for safety-critical development efforts, it is not because the language isn’t up to the task, Nilsen said. “Ada is technically strong for safety-critical. It was designed for that purpose.”

But fewer and fewer developers are skilled in Ada, which dates back to the early 1980s, and increasingly it is perceived as an older language, added Doug Locke, specification lead for the expert group working on Java Specification Request (JSR) 302, known as Safety Critical Java Technology.

Locke was engaged by IT consortium The Open Group to lead the JCP effort. “Technically there is nothing wrong with Ada. But if you have Ada on your resume, you will have trouble getting jobs.”

In practice, language decisions get made for reasons other than technical ones, noted Robert Dewar, president and CEO of AdaCore, which provides Ada tools and services. “Language choice has always been significantly a matter of personal taste and enthusiasm, and there are lots of Java enthusiasts around.”

AdaCore is a member of the JSR 302 expert group.

Comply Before You Fly
Locke said that JSR 302 is expected to reach completion by year’s end. The specification builds on the earlier Real Time Specification for Java (RTSJ), the result of JSR 1. RTSJ, among other things, devised a way for Java to carry out garbage collection—its scheme for managing memory allocation—without creating the unacceptable delays that real-time applications, such as those carrying out stock market transactions, cannot tolerate.




Pages 1 2 


Share this link: http://sdt.bz/31052
 
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
Taking enterprise architecture to the business side
Startup Corso is bringing out a cloud-based planning platform that ties into business plans
Zeichick’s Take: Radio moves from analog waveforms to digital packets
Streaming radio highlights the need for streaming applications to be designed to take up as little bandwidth as possible
Appcelerator Acquires Cocoafish to Add Instant Mobile Cloud Capabilities to its Industry Leading Titanium Platform
Appcelerator Offers Messaging, Social, Location and Storage Mobile Cloud Services to All Mobile App Publishers
ComponentOne Releases a Collection of 40+ UI Widgets Powered by HTML5 and jQuery
ComponentOne has announced the 2012 release of Wijmo: a kit of UI widgets for HTML5 and jQuery development
Digg!  Digg
Reddit  Reddit
Slashdot  Slashdot
Share on facebook  Facebook
Share on Twitter  Twitter



Comments


07/23/2009 04:35:15 AM EST

Java its easy to learn and code than ADA. Thats why new programmers are coming in Java than in ADA. Also,since more applications are developed in Java, people learn to get job. Though,the Real-time Application development skill is NOT as same as normal businees application, the developers of RTSJ- RealTimeSpecificationforJava forum will think and develop such JSR. How do you people see "Testing of Avinoics applications - in Java" as a challenge ?

IndiaKarthi


Add comment


Name*
Email*  
Country     


  • Comment
Loading




close
NEXT ARTICLE
Kik Launches an Open API to Enable Mobile Developers to Bake Instant Content Sharing Into Any App
API-powered developers like Rude Boy Games, DrinkOwl and FlyScreen can promote their apps to millions of Kik Messenger users Read More...
 
 
 
 
News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>


   

 
 

Download Current Issue
FEBRUARY 2012 PDF ISSUE

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Want to subscribe?


 
blogs tab
Are you at risk for burnout?
Burnout is a severe problem and it can strike at any time. Here's how to tell if you are nearing the edge.
02/09/2012 02:16 PM EST

Agility, mom, and apple pie
If we're to evaluate the state-of-the-art in software development, we should start with the values espoused in the Agile Manifesto.
02/07/2012 11:57 AM EST

RIM woos developers with free tablet
How do you get more apps ported to the BlackBerry PlayBook? By giving every developer a free tablet, of course!
02/04/2012 01:57 PM EST

GitHire: Use Headhunters to Find Your Perfect Programmer
Are you a hiring manager tired of scouring the job boards? Check out this new service that will find 5 people interested in your jobs.
02/03/2012 12:17 PM EST

Facebook claims hacker cred
Facebook's SEC S-1 filing form includes a short essay on the Hacker Way by Mark Zuckerberg himself.
02/02/2012 08:26 AM EST

Ryan Dahl steps down
Ryan Dahl, creator of Node.js, steps back from his position as gatekeeper for the project.
02/01/2012 04:58 PM EST

 
Events calendar tab
Cloud Connect
2/13/2012 to 2/16/2012
Santa Clara
TechWeb

SPTechCon: The SharePoint Technology Conf.
2/26/2012 to 2/29/2012
San Francisco
BZ Media

RSA Conf.
2/27/2012 to 3/2/2012
San Francisco
RSA

IBM Pulse Conf.
3/4/2012 to 3/7/2012
Las Vegas
IBM Tivoli

Game Developer Conf.
3/5/2012 to 3/9/2012
San Francisco
TechWeb