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Robert Thorpe wrote:
I'm not a Java programmer, but as far as I know the JIT parts of the
JVMs are very fast these days, almost as fast as compiled langauges if
used properly.
Java executables can be faster than traditional 'statically compiled'
languages. This is what 'hot spot' technology is all about; the run-time
environment keeps an eye on what is actually running - it profiles it -
and it can generate, and adapt, native object code to suit the running
program. It's very clever stuff.
I think there's been a lot of confusion in this thread about what Java
is. I think (not sure) that very few Java environments still (or only)
interpret byte codes at runtime. Most systems carry out compilation to
native code at some point, either before execution or during execution.
There are compilers that simply compile everything down to object code
before execution: that's exactly what GCC's Java port (gcj) does. I read
an article by Per Bothner, who did the port, a couple of years ago in
which he pointed out that gcj was (then) *slower* than Sun's hot spot
technology. I mainly write C++, but I would probably use Java instead if
it wasn't for C++'s STL (which is invaluable) and if gcj was more mature.
BTW, I don't give a monkey's about what the gEDA stuff is written in... :)