Re: fledgling assembler programmer

On Sat, 25 Mar 2023 13:07:57 +0100, Hans-Peter Diettrich
<DrDiettrich1@netscape.net> wrote:


>After a look at "open software" I was astonished by the number of
>languages and steps involved in writing portable C code. Also updates of
>popular programs (Firefox...) are delayed by months on some platforms,
>IMO due to missing manpower on the target systems for checks and the
>adaptation of "configure". Now I understand why many people prefer
>interpreted languages (Java, JavaScript, Python, .NET...) for a
>simplification of their software products and spreading.




Actually Python is the /only/ one of those that normally is
interpreted. And the interpreter is so slow the language would be
unusable were it not for the fact that all of its standard library
functions and most of its useful extensions are written in C.


In practice Java and Javascript almost always are JIT compiled to
native code rather than interpreted. There also exist offline (AOT)
compilers for both.


Many JIT runtimes do let you choose to have programs interpreted
rather than compiled, but running interpreted reduces performance so
much that it is rarely done unless memory is very tight.




.NET is not a language itself but rather a runtime system like the
Jave Platform. .NET consists of a virtual machine: the Common
Language Runtime (CLR); and a set of standard libraries. Similarly
the Java Platform consists of a virtual machine: the Java Virtual
Machine (JVM); and a set of standard libraries. Compilers target
these runtime systems.


The .NET CLR does not include an interpreter ... I'm not aware that
there even is one for .NET. There is an offline (AOT) compiler that
can be used instead of the JIT.






>What's the actual ranking of programming languages? A JetBrains study
>does not list any compiled language in their first 7 ranks in 2022. C++
>follows on rank 8.
>
>What does that trend mean to a compiler group? Interpreted languages
>still need a front-end (parser) and back-end (interpreter), but don't
>these tasks differ between languages compiled to hardware or interpretation?


The trend is toward "managed" environments which offer niceties like
GC, objects with automagic serialized access, etc., all to help
protect average programmers from themselves ... err, um, from being
unable to produce working software.




>DoDi
George

Return to the comp.compilers page.
Search the comp.compilers archives again.