The Detroit project prototype, which involved developing a native implementation of the javax.script package based on the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine, has been revived, Athijegannathan said. Participants also have prototyped a Python script engine based on CPython. Using widely adopted JavaScript and Python implementations, rather than re-implementing the languages from scratch, ensures low long-term maintenance costs and compatibility with existing JavaScript and Python code, Athijegannathan wrote.
“We would like to move these prototypes into a proper OpenJDK project in order to accelerate development. We expect to leverage and push the boundaries of the FFM (Foreign Function & Memory) API, so this work will likely influence Project Panama,” he wrote. Panama looks to improve connections between the JVM and non-Java APIs. Over time, the project may consider implementing script engines for additional languages. Votes on the project, from current OpenJDK members only, are due by March 11.
