Java may be ported to iPhone

The first anniversary of open-sourcing of Java is coming up on November 13. As a possible birthday present, those involved closely with Java project believe that Java could be ported to Apple’s iPhone as early as 2008. This would open up the iPhone to even more applications, on top of the range of apps developed by Apple and other developers.

Sun Microsystems, who developed Java, says that a potential port would enable iPhone users to utilize the vast library of Java apps. However, I digress. The iPhone is not an average phone, and developers take queues to make new programs for their share of fame, and the apps for iPhone are already burgeoning.

Apple has, unusually, been unavailable for any comments. Numerous news sites report that Apple has just ducked all questions about Java, with no official spokesperson(or whatever!).

The porting of Java to iPhone could coincide with the launch of the SDK for iPhone, by Apple. Coincidentally, the soon-to-be released SDK has the same aim as Java - allow more developers to build programs. This makes me wonder - is it really worth it, porting the Java environment to iPhone? The SDK would enable developers to make applications in the native format, and Java may not really be as useful as expected. Java is known for being ridiculous in optimization, with poor graphics and audio. On Symbian platforms, Java sucks, and I do not know how much different it would be, on the iPhone. Keeping my fingers crossed on this one, really.

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