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Re: JVM -b backend
Adam Megacz wrote:
> Tom Tromey <tromey@redhat.com> writes:
>>The JVM has a goto instruction.
> Wow, what's it used for? The language doesn't have a goto...
No, but it has loop, conditionals, break, and continue.
These are all implemented using gotos.
>>The real problem is dealing with the different data models, namely
>>pointers. Even this is solvable though.
>>
>
> Store everything in byte[]'s and represent pointers as offsets into
> the array?
That is one solution. It does mean you're not api-compatible with
normal libraries, though.
A more flexible approach is to have the compiler translate all pointer
dereferences into calls to special methods. These could be native
methods, they could be optimized by a jit or gcj, or they can be
implemented in pure Java using a byte array.
--
--Per Bothner
per@bothner.com http://www.bothner.com/per/