\chapter{What is JIGS}

\emph{JIGS} stands for \emph{Java Interface for GnuStep}.  It is a package
allowing integration between Java and Objective-C.  The main purpose
of JIGS is to allow Java programmers to use the GNUstep libraries from
Java.

JIGS is more than a set of bindings for GNUstep from Java; JIGS takes
advantage of the fact that Objective-C and Java are very similar
languages to make it possible to use Objective-C classes from Java
using {\bf exactly the same API} (and vice versa).  You have to learn
the GNUstep API only once, and then you can use it both from
Objective-C and from Java in the same way!  Moreover, JIGS can
generate automatically wrappers for your own Objective-C GNUstep
libraries.

JIGS allows you to write optimized classes and components in
Objective-C, and make them available to Java developers.  In the
typical configuration, fast Objective-C components and libraries are
used in the backend, and JIGS is used to integrate them smoothly in a
Java front-end.  Moving from one language to the other is as easy as
it can possibly be with two different languages.

JIGS is free software and part of the GNU project, freely available
from the Free Software Foundation under the GNU LGPL license.

This manual does not cover getting and installing JIGS; please refer
to the GNUstep web page for more information on getting and installing
JIGS.


