The Architecture Neutral Distribution Format (ANDF) in
computing is a technology allowing common "shrink wrapped" binary application programs to be distributed for use on conformant
Unix systems, translated to run on different underlying hardware platforms. ANDF was defined by the
Open Software Foundation and was expected to be a "truly revolutionary technology that will significantly advance the cause of portability and open systems",
but it was never widely adopted.
As with other OSF offerings, ANDF was specified through an open selection process. OSF issued a Request for Technology for architecture-neutral software distribution technologies in April, 1989. Fifteen proposals were received, based on a variety of technical approaches, including obscured source code, compiler intermediate languages, and annotated executable code.
The technology of ANDF, chosen after an evaluation of competing approaches and implementations, was
Ten15 Distribution Format, later renamed TenDRA Distribution Format, developed by the UK
Defence Research Agency.
Adoption
ANDF was intended to benefit both software developers and users. Software developers could release a single binary for all platforms, and software users would have freedom to procure multiple vendors' hardware competitively.
designers and implementors were also interested because standard installers would mean that only a single language front end would need to be developed.
OSF released several development 'snapshots' of ANDF, but it was never released commercially by OSF or any of its members. Various reasons have been proposed for this: for example, that having multiple installation systems would complicate software support.
After OSF stopped working on ANDF, development continued at other organizations.
See also
*
TenDRA Compiler
The TenDRA Compiler is a C/C++ compiler for POSIX-compatible operating systems available under the terms of the BSD license.
It was originally developed by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in the United Kingdom. In the beginning ...
*
UNCOL
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Java bytecode
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Common Language Runtime
The Common Language Runtime (CLR), the virtual machine component of Microsoft .NET Framework, manages the execution of .NET programs. Just-in-time compilation converts the managed code (compiled intermediate language code) into machine instructio ...
*
LLVM
*
Compilation
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Software portability
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WebAssembly
WebAssembly (sometimes abbreviated Wasm) defines a portable binary-code format and a corresponding text format for executable programs as well as software interfaces for facilitating interactions between such programs and their host environment ...
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SafeTSA
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Oberon ''slim binaries''
References
Bibliography
* Stavros Macrakis,
The Structure of ANDF: Principles and Examples, Open Software Foundation, RI-ANDF-RP1-1, January, 1992.
* Stavros Macrakis,
Protecting Source Code with ANDF, Open Software Foundation, November, 1992.
* Open Systems Foundation. "OSF Architecture-Neutral Distribution Format Rationale", June 1991.
* Open Systems Foundation. "A Brief Introduction to ANDF", January 1993. Available a
Google Groups
Abstract machines
Cross-compilers
Executable file formats
Computer-related introductions in 1991
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