next up previous
Next: Related Work Up: Java and High-Performance Computing Previous: Interpreted Environments.

Evaluation.

In summary, we see that Java has no obvious major disadvantages and some clear advantages compared with C++ and especially Fortran as a basic language for large-scale simulation and modeling. Obviously, we cannot and should not port all our codes to Java. Putting Java (or, more generally, CORBA) wrappers around existing code does, however, seem a good way of preserving old codes. Java wrappers can both document their capability (through the CORBA trader and JavaBean Information services) and allow definition of methods that allow such codes to be naturally incorporated into larger systems. In this way a Java framework for high-performance commodity computing can be used in general computing solutions. As compilers get better, we expect users will find it more and more attractive to use Java for new applications. Thus, we can expect to see a growing adoption by computational scientists of commodity technology in all aspects of their work.



Theresa Canzian
Fri Mar 13 01:17:33 EST 1998