IBM’s Eclipse now compatible with Jikes VM

– by Chris Preimesberger –
IBM has announced that Eclipse, its open-source development platform, will now run on the Java-based, open-source Jikes Research Virtual Machine. Previously Eclipse was usable only on IBM’s and Sun’s proprietary JVMs.

The Jikes VM runs on Linux and AIX platforms.

“By running Eclipse, the Jikes RVM will be an even more useful teaching and research tool because it provides the community with a significant open-source Java benchmark that runs on top of a flexible open testbed (Jikes RVM),â€? said IBM spokeswoman Jennifer Clemente. “The testbed runs on top of Linux and uses the GNU Classpath implementation of Java libraries, thereby providing a complete open-source solution.â€?

Eclipse enables developers to work with best-of-breed tools from different vendors in an integrated, portal-like environment, allowing developers to create, integrate and use software tools.

Jikes RVM was developed by IBM researchers at the IBM TJ Watson Research Center and donated to the community in October 2001. It now has a steering committee and core team that include both IBM staff and other university researchers. Jikes RVM users have found that the system provides a useful vehicle for research on the frontiers of virtual machine technologies (over three dozen publications) and for teaching courses, Clemente said.