The Architecture Neutral Distribution Format (ANDF) in
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...
is a technology allowing common "shrink wrapped" binary application programs to be distributed for use on conformant
Unix
Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...
systems, translated to run on different underlying hardware platforms. ANDF was defined by the
Open Software Foundation
The Open Software Foundation, Inc. (OSF), was a not-for-profit industry consortium for creating an open standard for an implementation of the operating system Unix. It was formed in 1988 and merged with X/Open in 1996, to become The Open Group.
...
and was expected to be a "truly revolutionary technology that will significantly advance the cause of portability and open systems",
but it was never widely adopted.
As with other OSF offerings, ANDF was specified through an open selection process. OSF issued a Request for Technology for architecture-neutral software distribution technologies in April, 1989. Fifteen proposals were received, based on a variety of technical approaches, including obscured source code, compiler intermediate languages, and annotated executable code.
The technology of ANDF, chosen after an evaluation of competing approaches and implementations, was
Ten15 Distribution Format, later renamed TenDRA Distribution Format, developed by the UK
Defence Research Agency
The Defence Research Agency (DRA) was an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) from April 1991 until April 1995. At the time, the DRA was Britain's largest science and technology organisation. In April 1995, the DRA was combined w ...
.
Adoption
ANDF was intended to benefit both software developers and users. Software developers could release a single binary for all platforms, and software users would have freedom to procure multiple vendors' hardware competitively.
Programming language
A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs.
Programming languages are described in terms of their Syntax (programming languages), syntax (form) and semantics (computer science), semantics (meaning), usually def ...
designers and implementors were also interested because standard installers would mean that only a single language front end would need to be developed.
OSF released several development 'snapshots' of ANDF, but it was never released commercially by OSF or any of its members. Various reasons have been proposed for this: for example, that having multiple installation systems would complicate software support.
After OSF stopped working on ANDF, development continued at other organizations.
See also
*
TenDRA Compiler
The TenDRA Compiler is a C/C++ compiler for POSIX-compatible operating systems available under the terms of the BSD license.
It was originally developed by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in the United Kingdom. In the beginning ...
*
UNCOL
*
Java bytecode
Java bytecode is the instruction set of the Java virtual machine (JVM), the language to which Java and other JVM-compatible source code is compiled. Each instruction is represented by a single byte, hence the name bytecode, making it a compact ...
*
Common Language Runtime
The Common Language Runtime (CLR), the virtual machine component of Microsoft .NET Framework, manages the execution of .NET programs. Just-in-time compilation converts the managed code (compiled intermediate language code) into machine instr ...
*
LLVM
LLVM, also called LLVM Core, is a target-independent optimizer and code generator. It can be used to develop a Compiler#Front end, frontend for any programming language and a Compiler#Back end, backend for any instruction set architecture. LLVM i ...
*
Compilation
Compilation may refer to:
*In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler
**Compilation error
**Compilation unit
*Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products, such as video game co ...
*
Software portability
Software consists of computer programs that instruct the execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications.
The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital computers in the mid-20th ...
*
WebAssembly
WebAssembly (Wasm) defines a portable binary-code format and a corresponding text format for executable programs as well as software interfaces for facilitating communication between such programs and their host environment.
The main goal of ...
*
SafeTSA SafeTSA (Safe Typed Single Assignment) is a static single assignment form (SSA) intermediate representation capable of representing all of the type safety of the Java programming language and the standard Java Virtual Machine (JVM) byte-code
B ...
*
Oberon ''slim binaries''
References
Bibliography
* Stavros Macrakis,
The Structure of ANDF: Principles and Examples, Open Software Foundation, RI-ANDF-RP1-1, January, 1992.
* Stavros Macrakis,
Protecting Source Code with ANDF, Open Software Foundation, November, 1992.
* Open Systems Foundation. "OSF Architecture-Neutral Distribution Format Rationale", June 1991.
* Open Systems Foundation. "A Brief Introduction to ANDF", January 1993. Available a
Google Groups
Abstract machines
Cross-compilers
Executable file formats
Computer-related introductions in 1991
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