Though various x86-compatible platforms are widespread and common to use, there are other architectures to think about. Java language itself is designed to be as cross-platform, as possible. In an x86-compatible world, it means that Java will work equally well and predictable for the vast majority of operating systems. Where more architectures are concerned, it should work on a great number of them.

The ARM architecture is the second architecture among the most popular ones. It gives a great balance between power saving and performance, and is used mostly in embedded and portable devices. There are several operating systems, supporting ARM, such as various Linux distributions, Android, Symbian, MeeGo, and many Windows releases.

In this chapter, we will speak about building IcedTea on ARM, using virtual Java machines, which are not official and aren't parts of the OpenJDK community. They are built for different purposes—academic, performance, and so on.

Unfortunately, these days...