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What's NetRexx?

NetRexx is a new programming language derived from both Rexx and Java; it is a dialect of Rexx that retains the portability and efficiency of Java, while being as easy to learn and to use as Rexx.

NetRexx is an effective alternative to the Java language. With NetRexx, you can create programs and applets for the Java environment more easily than by programming in Java. Using Java classes is especially easy in NetRexx as you rarely have to worry about all the different types of numbers and strings that Java expects.

The initial, experimental, implementation of the language is in the form of a translator that generates Java source code; a Java compiler is then used to generate Java bytecodes (class files). Initial measurements using this implementation suggest that the Java source for a typical class has approximately 35% more lexical tokens and requires 20% more keystrokes than the equivalent in NetRexx.

The NetRexx compiler (NetRexxC) is written in NetRexx, and should run on any Java platform that supports the Java toolkit and compiler (javac). By default, NetRexxC uses the javac compiler to create class files, but you can use other Java compilers if you wish (the generated Java source is accessible).

For samples (and examples of using Java classes from NetRexx), and for more formal details of the language, please see the other NetRexx documents at http://www2.hursley.ibm.com; you'll find the NetRexx packages to download there, too.

A good place to browse next is the NetRexx quick start, an overview of the language.


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NetRexx has been designed and implemented as a research project by Mike Cowlishaw, IBM Fellow, at the IBM UK Laboratories.
Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems Inc.