Want to learn UNIX with Java or Jython instaed of C or C++?

[Marc Rochkind]

Do your students (or you!) struggle with learning C when they really just
want to learn UNIX? You know, this sort of thing:

char *buf;
read(fd, buf, 100);
<crash>

Well, with Jtux they (you) can use Java or Jython instead.

Jtux implements 186 POSIX/SUS interfaces, including those for files,
directories, processes, sockets, System V IPC, POSIX IPC, signals, and lots
more.

Details at [url]http://basepath.com/aup/jtux[/url]. Open Source; BSD license.

No more pointers ever again! ;-)

--Marc

[Marc Rochkind]

On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 13:46:17 -0500, Chuck Dillon <cdillon@nimblegen.com>
wrote:

> Marc Rochkind wrote:

>> Do your students (or you!) struggle with learning C when they really
>> just want to learn UNIX? You know, this sort of thing:

>
> I'm having a hard time appreciating the value of deferring the
> prerequisite of becoming proficient in C. Before a person who wants 'to
> learn UNIX' can apply that knowledge s/he must climb the C learning curve
> to a reasonable level. It seems to me that transitioning from the
> artificial behavior of the APIs in a Jtux bubble to that of the real C
> world would make the journey more difficult not less.
>
> -- ced
>

Maybe. I'm not sure about how attractive Jtux might be in a college CS dept
where the students do most of their work in Java. There's tradeoff (which
different faculties would make differently) between requiring that the
practical OS course or lab be conducted only in C, for authenticity, or
allowing projects to be done in the same language (Java) used in the other
courses.

Since C will always be there, what Jtux does is provide a choice where none
existed before.

--Marc