Eclipse Embeds OSGi Based MicroKernel

Markus Kohler reports on the fact that the Eclipse project is replacing their core runtime with a version developed by the Equinox project. The Equinox project as previously mentioned attempts to beef up the microkernel foundations of Eclipse. The actual announcement can be dug up at the Equinox project's CVS: Equinox Adoption Guide.

The curious twist is that the new runtime is based on OSGi. Previously microkernels had been built using the JMX standard (i.e. JBoss and Avalon). The OSGi Platform is designed to support network delivered services. OSGi defines APIs address service cradle-to-grave life cycle management, inter-service dependencies, data management, device management, client access, resource management and security.

Markus points to an open source OSGi framework that with some tinkering with may reveal some insights on usage. As an example, the Exymen project provides an interesting demo of OSGi usage in the context of a desktop application.

It's just too bad that the Equinox documentation is extremely light, however maybe reading the road map document may gleem some much needed insight. It'll be interesting to find out why the Eclipse folks think OSGi is more suitable for client side applications as compared to JMX.