[e-lang] Embed E in Java

[David Wagner]

Mark Miller  wrote:
> I do not yet understand how practical it is
> to use Joe-E while avoiding generics.

As I remember, it was a design goal that it be possible to use Joe-E
with Java 1.4, while avoiding generics.  As I recall, the purpose of
this design goal was to support Tyler, who wanted to use Joe-E with
Waterken for the Mac, at a time when Java 1.5 wasn't supported well and
when it was a requirement that Waterken be able to work with Java 1.4.
I don't think we ever tested that, as the underlying motivation for this
design goal eventually disappeared over time.

I can't think of anything that would prevent you from using Joe-E with
Java 1.4.  Of course, I don't have implementation experience, so it's
always possible I'm missing something.

Using Joe-E with Java 1.4 would probably require some changes to the
Joe-E libraries.  It's plausible that just stripping out all the generics
syntax from the Joe-E libraries would be enough, though I'm not certain.
But, that's just a change to the .jar you include, so that should be no
big deal.  No changes to the Joe-E verifier or language itself should
be necessary, as far as I know.  I think.