> Java on Truffle is a normal Java application, it can run on a vanilla OpenJDK, doesn't need the bootstrap step.
Okay, but if you're not bootstrapping, then you still need to keep OpenJDK around, and you're still hugely dependent upon big chunks of C++ code in OpenJDK, particularly in the garbage collector, unless they've added a crazy in-memory bootstrapping hook to OpenJDK to switch garbage collectors without shutting down the JVM.
Maybe there are some rapid development advantages to not requiring bootstrapping, but that means huge amounts of complexity around allowing re-definition of classes at runtime, particularly key JVM internals. Changing a tire without stopping the car is going to be very tricky.
Okay, but if you're not bootstrapping, then you still need to keep OpenJDK around, and you're still hugely dependent upon big chunks of C++ code in OpenJDK, particularly in the garbage collector, unless they've added a crazy in-memory bootstrapping hook to OpenJDK to switch garbage collectors without shutting down the JVM.
Maybe there are some rapid development advantages to not requiring bootstrapping, but that means huge amounts of complexity around allowing re-definition of classes at runtime, particularly key JVM internals. Changing a tire without stopping the car is going to be very tricky.