> I believe we should investigate the possibility of passing dynamic shared
> objects that support custom nodes. I don't know what the facility for
> dynamic linking are on the MAC and PC, so i'm speaking here only with
> knowledge of unix. The downside of this approach is that you would have
> to build a copy for each different architecture you wish to have your
> custom nodes viewed on.
1. Dynamic loading is not supported on all architectures.
2. There are zillions of architectures, operating systems, and OS versions.
Supporting every one of these is not practical.
3. Security security security. Downloading a binary, linking it in to
your application automatically, then executing it is a virus writer's
dream.
An interpreted language, such as Java, addresses each of these issues.
It may be a hassle, but the consequences of not doing it are horrifying.
Dave Nadeau
San Diego Supercomputer Center