Re: GSoC 2015: VMFlexArray for OpenJDK / IcedTea

[Christopher Friedt]

Hi Jose,

Just in case deadlines are approaching and the classpath page does not
go up in time, please see the attached. proposal for VMFlexArray in
IcedTea.

On Tue, Feb 24, 2015 at 11:07 AM, Christopher Friedt
<address@hidden> wrote:
> Sorry for double-posting, but if I need to edit e.g. the classpath
> wiki, please let me know. I'm unable to create an account.
>
> Otherwise, Jose, should I simply add my idea as a diff to the GNU project 
> page?

VMFlexArray for OpenJDK (IcedTea)

Mentor: Chris Friedt

The technology that underpins the ability to write to the Linux FrameBuffer using pure java is termed VMFlexArray. It allows off-heap memory regions (/dev/fb0, /dev/video0, externally malloced memory) to be accessed as real, managed, java arrays with proper object lifecycles. Furthermore, it allows a java.nio.ByteBuffer with access to a backing byte[] to be viewed as a java.nio.IntBuffer with access to a backing int[], referencing the same memory. Initial proof of concept was shown using JamVM and Classpath, but design flexibility allows for these changes to be added to IcedTea (OpenJDK) or any other combination of VM and class library.

This GSOC topic requires the student to transpose the proof-of-concept changes to IcedTea, ensure the changeset passes unit tests adding new tests if necessary, provide example code for end-users, benchmark examples with and without the changes, and clearly document changes made.