November saw Apple and Oracle confirm the loss of built-in Java in future Macs in favor of a jointly developed open source Java implementation, to be maintained by the OpenJDK project. Now the first code under the deal has landed.
“We are excited to welcome Apple as a significant contributor in the growing OpenJDK community,” said Hasan Rizvi, Oracle’s senior vice president of Development when announcing OpenJDK.
“The availability of Java on Mac OS X plays a key role in the cross-platform promise of the Java platform. The Java developer community can rest assured that the leading edge Java environment will continue to be available on Mac OS X in the future. Combined with last month’s announcement of IBM joining the OpenJDK, the project now has the backing of three of the biggest names in software.”
At the time, Apple was also delighted…
“We’re delighted to be working with Oracle to insure that there continues to be a great version of Java on the Mac,” said Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “The best way for our users to always have the most up to date and secure version of Java will be to get it directly from Oracle.”
Now significant progress is being seen. The “Mac OS X Port Project” was announced earlier this week. It aims to produce an open source version of the JDK 7 (Java Development Kit) for Mac OS X. The initial code is based on the BSD port and is said to provide the same functions.
The Project is sponsored by the Porters Group,
“The goal of this Project is to produce a high-quality, open source version of JDK 7 for the Mac. The final release has the following goals:
- Pass all appropriate certification tests for Java SE 7
- Include a complete, native Cocoa-based UI Toolkit
- Provide excellent performance
The project web site also includes a Wiki and allows users to register for a mailing list. You can also find the latest news on the project’s status web page.
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