1.1 --- a/Admin/PLATFORMS	Wed Sep 05 11:19:01 2012 +0200
     1.2 +++ b/Admin/PLATFORMS	Wed Sep 05 13:02:25 2012 +0200
     1.3 @@ -68,9 +68,9 @@
     1.4  x86-darwin personality usually works seamlessly for C/C++ programs,
     1.5  but the Java 7 platform is only available for x86_64-darwin.
     1.6  
     1.7 -Add-on executables are expected to without manual user configuration,
     1.8 -Each component settings script needs to work out the platform details
     1.9 -appropriately.
    1.10 +Add-on executables are expected to work without manual user
    1.11 +configuration.  Each component settings script needs to determine the
    1.12 +platform details appropriately.
    1.13  
    1.14  The Isabelle settings environment provides the following variables to
    1.15  help configuring platform-dependent tools:
    1.16 @@ -88,8 +88,10 @@
    1.17  
    1.18  Moreover note that ML and JVM usually have a different idea of the
    1.19  platform, depending on the respective binaries that are actually run.
    1.20 -Poly/ML 5.5.x runs most efficiently on 32 bit, even for large
    1.21 -applications.  The JVM usually performs better in 64 bit mode.
    1.22 +Poly/ML 5.5.x performs best in 32 bit mode, even for large
    1.23 +applications, thanks to its sophisticated heap management.  The JVM
    1.24 +usually works better in 64 bit mode, which allows its heap to grow
    1.25 +beyond 2 GB.
    1.26  
    1.27  The traditional "uname" Unix tool usually only tells about its own
    1.28  executable format, not the underlying platform!
    1.29 @@ -109,8 +111,8 @@
    1.30    performs not as well in addressing various delicate details of
    1.31    operating system concepts (processes, signals, sockets etc.).
    1.32  
    1.33 -* Scala with Java 1.7.  The Isabelle/Scala layer irons out many
    1.34 -  oddities and portability issues of the Java platform.
    1.35 +* Scala with Java 1.7.  Isabelle/Scala irons out many oddities and
    1.36 +  portability issues of the Java platform.
    1.37  
    1.38  
    1.39  Known problems
    1.40 @@ -129,8 +131,7 @@
    1.41  
    1.42  * The Java runtime has its own idea about the underlying platform,
    1.43    which affects Java native libraries in particular.  In
    1.44 -  Isabelle/Scala isabelle.Platform.jvm_platform identifies the JVM
    1.45 -  platform.  Since there can be many different Java installations on
    1.46 -  the same machine, which can also be run with different options,
    1.47 -  reliable JVM platform identification works from inside the running
    1.48 -  JVM only.
    1.49 +  Isabelle/Scala the function isabelle.Platform.jvm_platform
    1.50 +  identifies the JVM platform.  Since a particular Java version is
    1.51 +  always bundled with Isabelle, the resulting settings also provide
    1.52 +  some clues about its platform, without running it.