Sunday, December 29, 2002

Unordered Trees and the TreeModel. TreeModel isn't too hard to implement, but...just about every tree structure you'll have in a real program is unordered.  TreeModel really wants it to be ordered.  It seems that the Java library should provide an adapter class that applies a comparator (or natural ordering) to a simplified, unordered tree model.  Ordered event emitting is a pain in the ass.  I know this because I am doing it right now. It's also a pain in the ass to reconcile changes in a data structure that can occur from any thread with delivery of change events to a primary swing thread.  6:40:27 PM

Microsoft and Java. b. Microsoft notifies customers of the availability of Sun’s implementation via any and all Microsoft update services for the Windows PC Operating System or Web Browser on the commercial release date for such products; That's from the proposed order, and it's by far the most important part.  What is interesting to me is how far this will be taken -- will this mean that when a new version of Java is available, MS will be forced to push the upgrade out through its channels?  This is a phenomenal win for Sun. And that takes me down another path.  Exactly what is Java, anyway?  Right now, Java is anything Sun says it is.  Can Sun use their win in this case to push other technologies down the pipe the legal system is providing them?  What kinds of vulnerabilities does this open up in Microsoft? 3:15:19 PM