A distributed JAVASPACE implementation for HARNESS

HARNESS is an experimental metacomputing system based upon the principle of dynamically reconfigurable, object-oriented, networked computing framework s. HARNESS supports reconfiguration not only in terms of the computers and networks that comprise the virtual machine, but also in the capabilities of the VM itself. These characteristics allow the construction of modular pro gramming environments that can be plugged into the HARNESS system on demand . As a proof of concept exercise, and also with an intent to provide a flex ible coordination facility for the HARNESS system, Sun's JAVASPACE interfac e was implemented as a HARNESS plug-in. The JAVASPACES model is part of the JAVA distributed computing effort and is essentially an object-oriented tu ple-space. JAVASPACES technology is a simple unified mechanism for dynamic communication, coordination, and sharing of objects between JAVA technology -based network resources. This paper introduces the HARNESS system and disc usses design, implementation, and preliminary experiences with the JAVASPAC E for HARNESS. (C) 2000 Academic Press.