Virtual Machines and the OS
Linked by Peter Gerdes on Mon 10th Jan 2005 17:35 UTC
Editorial As a recent ACM Queue article observes the evolution of computer language is toward later and later binding and evaluation. So while one might quibble about the virtues of Java or the CLI (also known as microsoft.net) it seems inevitable that more and more software will be written for or at least compiled to virtual machines. While this trend has many virtues, not the least of which is compatibility, current implementations have several drawbacks. However, by cleverly incorporating these features into the OS, or at least including support for them, we can overcome these limitations and in some cases even turn them into strengths.
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Compile Time
by kramii on Tue 11th Jan 2005 15:06 UTC

I guess I must misunderstand something. As I understand it, there appear to be two alternative models being discussed here.

1) Static Compilation *once* and for all in the development environment.

2) JIT Compilation *each time* the application is run, so that it can be optimized for a specific environment.

Surely the ideal is to compile an application *once* on a particular hardware configuration? So why not employ a third model:

3) Compile the whole application *once* when the application is installed. Recompile only when significant changes are made to the execution environment.

Or am I being too simplistic?

Kramii.