Interesting BusinessWeek article on iDrive
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Interesting article -- where does it say anything about Java?
(Here's a .pdf version of the article in case anyone has the same trouble I had -- Spybot was having fits loading the site due to it's dumping of advertising trackers, etc.)
(Here's a .pdf version of the article in case anyone has the same trouble I had -- Spybot was having fits loading the site due to it's dumping of advertising trackers, etc.)
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I thought iDrive was written in Microsoft's code. From this article doesn't is sound like it is written in Java?
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Originally Posted by firewired' date='Sep 30 2004, 12:12 AM
From this article doesn't is sound like it is written in Java?
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Java is where Microsoft and Sun part ways, and it has been a constant source of strife between the two companies. I thought it was strongly implied by the following paragraphs:
"The TLA allows a car's computer guts to stay current even while the car ages. BMW can continually write updates and add-ons that work together without testing, thanks to the underlying Java. Every time a car owner visits a BMW dealer, new software, like a new navigation system, can be added. Partners that know how to program in Java could also write software to run on iDrive. A rental-car company, for example, could automatically send information such as updated mileage rates to its customer via an on-board computer.
Sun engineers hope their Java will do for cars what it has already done for corporate computer networks. First developed in the early 1990s by famed programmer James Gosling and a group of Sun engineers, Java was intended for interactive TV. Needless to say, that didn't turn out to be the Next Big Thing. But the World Wide Web was.
Not long after Netscape Communications popularized the Web browser, Sun introduced Java as an ideal way to program for the Internet. It allowed for better security than traditional programming languages, yet it was more flexible and could run on many different kinds of computer operating systems.
VALLEY OUTPOST.? Today, nearly every major software company other than Microsoft uses Java to program everything from PCs to giant financial systems for multinational companies. Java also has found its way into cell phones, allowing customers to do things like download new ring tones or check e-mail. It adds similar flexibility to a car's computer system.
I was surprised because I thought Microsoft did the programing for the iDrive and they would never use Java. Java is a great choice because it plays well with others.
"The TLA allows a car's computer guts to stay current even while the car ages. BMW can continually write updates and add-ons that work together without testing, thanks to the underlying Java. Every time a car owner visits a BMW dealer, new software, like a new navigation system, can be added. Partners that know how to program in Java could also write software to run on iDrive. A rental-car company, for example, could automatically send information such as updated mileage rates to its customer via an on-board computer.
Sun engineers hope their Java will do for cars what it has already done for corporate computer networks. First developed in the early 1990s by famed programmer James Gosling and a group of Sun engineers, Java was intended for interactive TV. Needless to say, that didn't turn out to be the Next Big Thing. But the World Wide Web was.
Not long after Netscape Communications popularized the Web browser, Sun introduced Java as an ideal way to program for the Internet. It allowed for better security than traditional programming languages, yet it was more flexible and could run on many different kinds of computer operating systems.
VALLEY OUTPOST.? Today, nearly every major software company other than Microsoft uses Java to program everything from PCs to giant financial systems for multinational companies. Java also has found its way into cell phones, allowing customers to do things like download new ring tones or check e-mail. It adds similar flexibility to a car's computer system.
I was surprised because I thought Microsoft did the programing for the iDrive and they would never use Java. Java is a great choice because it plays well with others.
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Originally Posted by Rudy' date='Sep 30 2004, 12:19 AM
[quote name='firewired' date='Sep 30 2004, 12:12 AM']From this article doesn't is sound like it is written in Java?
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[/quote]Rudy, It looks to me that you are linking to a different article, thus the blindness
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That's the ticket! The article I found was the one I attached the .pdf of.
Obviously the other article mentions Java enough to explain where DaveR was coming from.
(I couldn't click his link directly -- the page wouldn't load due to Spybot blocking something that was being pushed down -- so I had to go at it from a different angle.)
Obviously the other article mentions Java enough to explain where DaveR was coming from.
(I couldn't click his link directly -- the page wouldn't load due to Spybot blocking something that was being pushed down -- so I had to go at it from a different angle.)
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Originally Posted by firewired' date='Sep 30 2004, 12:26 AM
I was surprised because I thought Microsoft did the programing for the iDrive and they would never use Java.? Java is a great choice because it plays well with others.
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Whomever actually did the programming simply wrote things with Java running on the Windows platform, I guess.
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Originally Posted by Rudy' date='Sep 30 2004, 07:36 AM
Whomever actually did the programming simply wrote things with Java running on the Windows platform, I guess.
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I guess you're right!
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Originally Posted by Rudy' date='Sep 29 2004, 11:36 PM
[quote name='firewired' date='Sep 30 2004, 12:26 AM']I was surprised because I thought Microsoft did the programing for the iDrive and they would never use Java.? Java is a great choice because it plays well with others.
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Whomever actually did the programming simply wrote things with Java running on the Windows platform, I guess.
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[/quote]Siemens VDO Automotive did the programming in Java, according to the article.