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NetRexx 1.00
NetRexx is a new human-oriented language that makes writing and using Java classes quicker and easier than writing in Java. |
What's NetRexx?NetRexx is a new human-oriented programming language, designed as an effective and simple alternative to the Java language. With NetRexx, you can create programs and applets for the Java environment faster and more easily than by programming in Java. Using Java classes is especially easy in NetRexx, as the different types of numbers and strings that Java expects are handled automatically by the language. Inspired by two very different programming languages, Rexx and Java, NetRexx blends the easy-to-learn syntax of Rexx with the robustness and portability of the Java environment. The result is a language which is tuned for both scripting and application development, and is therefore truly general-purpose. The initial implementation of the language is a compiler that first translates the NetRexx source code into Java source code; a Java compiler is then used to generate the Java bytecodes (class files) for execution. NetRexx classes and Java classes are entirely equivalent -- NetRexx can use any Java class (and vice versa). Initial measurements using the current implementation suggest that the Java source for a typical class has approximately 35% more lexical tokens and requires 20% more keystrokes than the equivalent in NetRexx. The NetRexx compiler (NetRexxC) is written in NetRexx, and should run on any Java platform that supports the Java toolkit and compiler (javac). By default, NetRexxC automatically calls the javac compiler to create class files, but you can use other Java compilers if you wish (the generated Java source is accessible). For samples (and examples of using Java classes from NetRexx), and for more formal details of the language, please see the other NetRexx documents at http://www2.hursley.ibm.com; you'll find the NetRexx packages to download there, too. A good place to browse next is the NetRexx quick start, an overview of the language.
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Your comments, questions, and suggestions for NetRexx and these Web pages are welcome! Either use the NetRexx mailing list, or send mail to me (Mike Cowlishaw) directly, using mail to mfc@vnet.ibm.com.
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This page was created on 18 Feb 1997; it can be found from http://www2.hursley.ibm.com/netrexx/