The introduction of Java, with its architecture-independent and Web-centric programming framework, has sparked considerable interest among the distributed and parallel programming communities, although projects focusing on unifying Web technology and parallel computing are, like our own, still in their infancy. A recent proposal by Fox et al [3], for instance, proposes a system similar to ParaWeb called WebWork. They propose developing high-performance applications that make use of the Web's wealth of resources, by creating and utilizing compute servers throughout the Internet. While the implementation of WebWork and ParaWeb differ significantly (WebWork currently proposes using existing Web technologies such as CGI script), the motivation for both projects is derived from an interest in integrating the field of high performance computing with Web technology. The use of Java as a means for building distributed systems that execute throughout the Internet has also been recently proposed by Chandy it et al [2].
Some of the mechanisms that we are building into the Java interpreter in order to provide a distributed shared memory framework may eventually be realized through standard Java components. For instance, Riggs, Waldo and Wollrath [8], describe a pickling mechanism for Java that allows an object's state to be easily saved and restored. Although targeted at providing a means for marshaling and unmarshaling for remote object systems and object persistence, this pickling mechanism can be used for building a distributed shared memory system as well, since it would allow an object to be easily replicated and selectively updated when parts of the object are modified. Wollrath, Riggs, and Waldo, in a separate paper [10], also describe a Remote Method Invocation (RMI) mechanisms for Java based upon the pickling mechanisms. These pickling and RMI mechanisms will both be provided in an upcoming release of the JDK.