Architecture-Neutral Distribution Format

Within the framework of the OSF (Open Software Foundation) created at the end of the 1980s by a group of information processing systems manufacturers, whose initial goal was to develop a UNIX operating system independent of Sun and ATT, there was an attempt to promote a distribution technology independent of processor architecture. However, this technology, called ANDF was not adopted by industry players. It consisted of distributing the applications in a form of intermediate code (compilers produced this intermediate code instead of generating computer code). Installation then required translation of the intermediate code into computer code. One reason for the failure of this approach could be that software vendors using it might have been presented with a support problem, since the approach vastly increases the number of platforms on which the software could be run (to port to a new platform, one needed only a translation program for that platform). The Java approach, which we cover shortly, is different in that it specifies a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to execute the Java programs., and the JVM is the piece to be validated. However, in the JIT (Just In Time) compilation strategy of Java, one sees a close parallel with ANDF.

Source of Information : Elsevier Server Architectures 2005