On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:47:19 +0200, Hunkeler Peter (KIUP 4) <peter.hunke...@credit-suisse.com> wrote:
>Denis, >Thanks for the excellent argumentation. I basically concur with you. > Yes, it was an excellent reply, certainly better than I could have done. >I'd like to reply to a few arguments, though: > >1. Today's JVMs offer the option to have the byte code compiled on the >fly when certain conditions are met. So, these JVMs already have the >capability to run "machine code" instead of "byte code". This is the >runtime environment you'd need to run Java code that has been compiled >at the will of the programmer instead of at the will of the JVM. All >you need is an option to tell the JVM where to find and/or how to >recognize pre-compiled java class files. The JIT compiler can do things that a static compiler can't. The more frequently a method is used, the more optimisations can be applied, such as inlining other methods and branch table reorganisation. This results in code which can actually be faster than statically-compiled code. > >No need for a new runtime environment, no need for application >programmers >to care any more about memory management as they need to care about with >today's Java environment. You still instantiate a JVM and tell it which >Java class file to run. > >BTW, programmer's don't need to care about memory management in other >HLL languages, do they? It's the HLL's runtime that manages this. > That *is* meant to be an ironic statement, isn't it? If you use malloc() in a C program, then it's a good idea to care about free() as well, otherwise you can end up out of memory. In Java, the JVM (or the Garbage Collector, to be precise) automatically releases the storage occupied by objects which are no longer referenced. The programmer has no direct control over memory management, so doesn't generally need to worry about it. Tom Grieve CICS Development IBM Hursley Park ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
