Re: Optional Separate Programs for Interpreter Passes
Fisher Mark wrote: The rest of us with our TVs, VCRs, and so on have only compiled code in our devices. I'd buy a microwave that resets to 'JAPH' after a power failure. Maybe. ;) - Ken
Re: Optional Separate Programs for Interpreter Passes
Dan Sugalski wrote: At 12:58 PM 8/29/00 -0500, Fisher Mark wrote: Although Perl interpretation is divided into several passes (parser/lexer, optimizer, tree/bytecode runner), all these passes are grouped together in one binary. Under some memory-constrained conditions, it could be better if each pass ran as its own program, passing the transformed data onto the next pass similarly to the way compilers usually work. This is a good idea, and I've had fuzzy thoughts along this line (more or less) myself. There's a proto-RFC in the works. For the world of the JVM port, it's imperative that hooks be provided so that the front-end can be run independently, and a different back-end can be run (to emit bytecode of some sort). This is done in perl5 by STOP blocks, and the mechanism is rather hokey. I don't care much myself *how* it is done here, but something non-hokey would be good. ;) -- Bradley M. Kuhn - http://www.ebb.org/bkuhn PGP signature
RE: Optional Separate Programs for Interpreter Passes
Bradley M. Kuhn wrote: For the world of the JVM port, it's imperative that hooks be provided so that the front-end can be run independently, and a different back-end can be run (to emit bytecode of some sort). All this also dovetails nicely with the mass-market world of embedded devices, where almost all copies of the device have only the compiled code. Only the developers ever have the source, the parser/lexer, etc. in a device. The rest of us with our TVs, VCRs, and so on have only compiled code in our devices. And, I expect to see more and more microcontrollers come with a JVM (or have a JVM readily available). So a perl that can compile down to JVM bytecode would be a big win in the embedded world. Mark Leighton FisherThomson Consumer Electronics [EMAIL PROTECTED] Indianapolis, IN, USA "Display some adaptability." -- Doug Shaftoe, _Cryptonomicon_
Optional Separate Programs for Interpreter Passes
Although Perl interpretation is divided into several passes (parser/lexer, optimizer, tree/bytecode runner), all these passes are grouped together in one binary. Under some memory-constrained conditions, it could be better if each pass ran as its own program, passing the transformed data onto the next pass similarly to the way compilers usually work. This would be an advantage in embedded systems where there might be a great deal of ROM (perfect for storing pass programs) but not as much RAM (so you can't load the whole interpreter into RAM at once). This should be an option at perl creation time, as most non-embedded systems would not benefit from splitting the interpreter into separate programs. Thoughts, anyone? Mark Leighton FisherThomson Consumer Electronics [EMAIL PROTECTED] Indianapolis, IN, USA "Display some adaptability." -- Doug Shaftoe, _Cryptonomicon_
Re: Optional Separate Programs for Interpreter Passes
At 12:58 PM 8/29/00 -0500, Fisher Mark wrote: Although Perl interpretation is divided into several passes (parser/lexer, optimizer, tree/bytecode runner), all these passes are grouped together in one binary. Under some memory-constrained conditions, it could be better if each pass ran as its own program, passing the transformed data onto the next pass similarly to the way compilers usually work. This would be an advantage in embedded systems where there might be a great deal of ROM (perfect for storing pass programs) but not as much RAM (so you can't load the whole interpreter into RAM at once). This should be an option at perl creation time, as most non-embedded systems would not benefit from splitting the interpreter into separate programs. This is a good idea, and I've had fuzzy thoughts along this line (more or less) myself. There's a proto-RFC in the works. Dan --"it's like this"--- Dan Sugalski even samurai [EMAIL PROTECTED] have teddy bears and even teddy bears get drunk
