[arch-general] A universal Operating System API - why don't we have it?

[Chris Brannon]

Laurie Clark-Michalek <bluepeppers at archlinux.us> writes:

> Java? The success of the language is based around the fact that almost
> every computer has the runtime installed, regardless of operating
> system. Does that not count as a global API?

The concept is called "write once, run anywhere".  An early example is
UCSD Pascal, developed in the late 1970s.  UCSD Pascal's P-code is
somewhat analogous to JVM bytecode.  There were implementations of the
P-code interpreter for many early microcomputers.  Perhaps UCSD Pascal
would have been more popular if it weren't so expensive.  IIRC, the IBM PC
version was priced at $495.  MS-DOS was cheaper.
Java may be the most popular example of "write once, read anywhere", but
it was not the first.

-- Chris