Re: [soa-rm-ra] How to Refer to Various Uses of the word "machine"

[Michael Stiefel <development@reliablesoftware.com>]

Between the two I prefer "abstract mechanism" to refer to what we are 
producing in the SOA RA. We can then use the word machine  to refer to a 
computer or any other device that participates in the SOA.

Michael

At 04:56 PM 6/1/2006, Frank McCabe wrote:
>I do not like either the terms virtual machine or abstract machine as
>both have the connotation of being turing complete; and that is not
>what we are about.
>
>How about "abstract mechanism", or "abstract system"?
>
>Frank
>
>On Jun 1, 2006, at 11:34 AM, Jeffrey A Estefan wrote:
>
>>Hi Joe,
>>
>>The potential confusion between our proposed use of the term "SOA
>>virtual
>>machine" (or some variant) with the term "Java Virtual Machine
>>(JVM)" was
>>certainly something that crossed my mind; however, I believe it's
>>just an
>>artifact of the more recent popularity of Java whereas the term
>>"virtual
>>machine" has been around for decades.
>>
>>I think we can alleviate the problem by stating up front [in the RA
>>text]
>>that our definition of virtual machine is abstract in nature and is
>>technology-neutral, hence, it should not be confused with specific
>>technologies such as the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that provides the
>>runtime environment for the Java programming language or other
>>technology-specific "VM" variants.
>>
>>Incidentally, the term "abstract machine" also came to mind, but the
>>Computer Science purists out there often associate abstract machine
>>with
>>abstract computers and Turing machines.
>>
>>  - Jeff
>>
>>
>>
>