Fernando Cassia wrote:
On 2/16/06, Stefano Mazzocchi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
which implements a very interesting trick to speed up java startup
performance: save the hotspot information in a repository (at JVM shut
down) so that the JIT doesn't have to wait when it starts until it knows
what is a hotspot to start compiling it. the performance improvements
are not likely to change the perception that java is awefully slow to
start up on the desktop, but it's a clever idea.
In the meanwhile, Sun's attempt to solve the same problem in JSE6 is this=
:
http://java.sun.com/developer/JDCTechTips/2005/tt1115.html#1
No comment.
You try to sound clever by making that statement, but imho, despite any
other speed-up work who might be implemented, Sun's solution
is very important, and something that should have been implemented a long,
long time ago. I welcome their implementation, even if late.
Get this: Splash screens sever an important purpose: they're a visual cue to
tell the user that the program is loading (even if it takes a long time).
It's all about PERCEPTION. Java aps are PERCEIVED as slower because
the computer
appears to "freeze" until the program's UI is finally showed on the screen
(after ALL classes -and even more if it uses Swing- needed to run are
loaded- By then, the user is no longer interested in seeing a splash screen,
he's already wondering why it took so long....
See, most Flash content on the web takes an AWFUL LOT of time to download,
yet if you ask users, they'll tell you that Flash "loads faster" than java.
The difference? Flash applets can show a message RIGHT AWAY and often
display a progress dialog as the rest of the flash cr*p is downloading,
telling the user what is going on. In contrast, java applets (and desktop
applications as well) "freeze" the user experience until the applet (or
desktop app) has loaded.
My point was that it is *trivial* to patch the C code that implements
the java JVM loader to add something like that.
On an apple computer, since practically 5 years ago, you can double
click on a jar file and the icon will start bouncing right away on your
dock.
My point is: I don't think this is silly, it's a very useful feature,
but it's *lame* that it took them almost 10 years to realize they needed
it!
But look at the bright side: there are probably many other really simple
yet useful things that can be done to make java more useful on the
desktop and this will be a marketing win for alternative JVMs.
We need to find the tab-browsing-equivalent of a JVM ;-)
--
Stefano.
