Reusable Libraries for Safety-Critical Java

The large collection of Java class libraries is a main factor of the success of Java. However, these libraries assume that a garbage-collected heap is used. Safety-critical Java uses scope-based memory areas instead of a garbage-collected heap. Therefore, the Java class libraries are problematic to use in safety-critical Java. We have identified common programming patterns in the Java class libraries that make them unsuitable for safety-critical Java. We propose ways to improve the libraries to avoid the impact of the identified problematic patterns. We illustrate these changes by implementing a total of five scope-safe classes from commonly used libraries.