🚀 go-pugleaf

David Young wrote in message <35A16AA2.49FF3E73@icis-inc.com>...

>Is it possible for one JVM to run multiple JAVA processes?  How would
>they be started and in what way could they communicate?

You basically have two options if you want to run multiple processes using
Java, and which option you choose depends on exactly what you're trying to
do. The JVM is a multi-threaded environment (more so on some OSes than
others) that allows you to create multiple threads and use each as a
process. The advantage to this approach is that each thread can access other
threads through a variety of techniques, from the simple (global variables)
to the slightly more advanced (synchronized methods). Each thread can be
started from within the JVM by a method call or from outside the JVM through
native code or through messaging via a socket connection (these are just two
possibilities). The downside to this whole approach is that the JVM is
running as a single process on your OS and therefore if it crashes for any
reason it takes your entire application with it.

You can also run multiple JVMs as multiple processes if your operating
system supports it. This allows less flexibility in inter-process
communication (you'll have to come up with and implement your own messaging
scheme...you could probably use Java's RMI), but does provide a more robust
runtime environment.

Craig Patchett
craig@patchett.com