From: KevinWilloughby@acm.org.invalid.retro.com   
      
   In article , invalid@nospam.com   
   says...   
   > Uhh...i heard something about extensive use of JAVA.   
      
   I'm not quite sure of the extent of "extensive", but yes, Java (not all   
   upper-case, please) was one of the many, many tools used on MER.   
      
      
   > I just hope it wasn't in rover itself.   
      
   There is Java code in the rover. So what?   
      
      
   > It's nice for rebootable web-based systems but [I]   
   > can't stand the tought of bloated, buggy code running inside the poor rover.   
      
   uh, the first MER lander is rebooting frequently, with (as far as I   
   understand these things) no reason to blame the Java Virtual Machine.   
      
   Java code does not have to be "bloated, buggy code". Virtual machine   
   architectures are a classic way to to create a small, tight program --   
   consult Knuth for details.   
      
   "Bloated, buggy code" is more common in non-Java environments, e.g., MS   
   Office running on MS Windows.   
      
      
   > Somehow, I'm afraid rover "bluescreened"   
      
   "Bluescreen" is a Microsoft-ism. Note that Microsoft is legally   
   restrained from doing much of anything with Java.   
   --   
   Kevin Willoughby         kevinwilloughby@acm.orgNoSpam.invalid   
      
   Imagine that, a FROG ON-OFF switch, hardly the work   
   for test pilots. -- Mike Collins   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)