Can Java™ meet its real-time deadlines?

Abstract

Ada has been-there, done-that, as regards meeting real-time programming requirements. The Ada95 revision addressed almost all the concerns that had plagued Ada83’s real-time usability. But Java is currently flavor of the month, although its existing real-time features are totally inadequate. Two independent recent efforts have defined extensions to the Java platform that intend to satisfy real-time requirements. This paper summarizes the major features of these efforts, compares them to each other and to Ada 95’s Real-Time Annex, and argues that they may serve to complement rather than compete with Ada in the real-time domain.