Introduction

Name of the game

As we try to bring PHP to the Java world the name is based on a simple regression:

PHP -> OGO -> NFN -> MEM -> LDL -> KCK -> JBJ

By shear coincidence this leads to a three letters that may be interpreted as some funny acronyms, including - but not restricted to - the name of the author himself.

Positioning of the project

JBJ is not the first project trying to bring PHP to the Java-VM. Most prominently there are:

• Quercus
  • Almost complete implementation of the PHP interpreter in Java
  • Part of the Caucho/Resin. Sourcecode available, GPL license
  • Does not seem to be community driven
• JPHP
  • PHP compiler for the JVM
  • Focusses to bring Java-VM features to the PHP language
• IBM Project Zero/WebSphere sMash
  • Almost no information available (any more?)
  • Potentially dead project(?)

Both of these projects focus on interpretation of PHP code. In contrast JBJ tries to create an environment that should support a semi-automatic conversion of PHP code to Scala code. In theory a conversion to plain Java should be possible as well, but will most likely create rather mess/unreadable code (mostly due to the lack of operator-overloading).

For completeness, it should be mentioned that there is an inverse project as well:

• PJP - PHP/Java Bridge
  • Tries to integrate a Java-VM into the PHP interpreter
  • Is able to call Java-classes from PHP code