A Simple(r) Interface Distribution Mechanism for Java Card

Abstract

Conventional interface distributions rely on Interface Description Language (IDL) files. From these IDL files, stubs are automatically generated to allow code to link to the desired interfaces. In contrast, the Java Card interface distributions require both export files (IDL) and class files (stubs). This leads to the possibility of mismatched versions of the export files and class files. Furthermore, the class files distributed are typically generated from the original Java card sources, which allows access to private information contained in the class file. Modifying sources to strip private code is error prone. In order to address these problems, a mechanism is proposed by which the necessary Java class files may be synthesized from the export files, eliminating the need to distribute class files. This mechanism could be extended to other Java platforms as a general-purpose means for interface distribution.