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Davidobot wrote:Unrelated: what is all this LuaJT stuff I've been hearing about recently?

Davidobot wrote:Unrelated: what is all this Lua JT stuff I've been hearing about recently?

In computing, just-in-time compilation (JIT), also known as dynamic translation, is a method to improve the runtime performance of computer programs based on byte code (virtual machine code).

In a bytecode-compiled system, source code is translated to an intermediate representation known as bytecode. Bytecode is not the machine code for any particular computer, and may be portable among computer architectures. The bytecode may then be interpreted by, or run on, a virtual machine. The JIT compiler reads the bytecodes in many sections (or in full, rarely) and compiles them dynamically into machine language so the program can run faster. Java [for example] performs runtime checks on various sections of the code and this is the reason the entire code is not compiled at once.[2] This can be done per-file, per-function or even on any arbitrary code fragment; the code can be compiled when it is about to be executed (hence the name "just-in-time"), and then cached and reused later without needing to be recompiled.

In contrast, a traditional interpreted virtual machine will simply interpret the bytecode, generally with much lower performance. Some interpreters even interpret source code, without the step of first compiling to bytecode, with even worse performance. Statically compiled code or native code is compiled prior to deployment. A dynamic compilation environment is one in which the compiler can be used during execution. For instance, most Common Lisp systems have a compile function which can compile new functions created during the run. This provides many of the advantages of JIT, but the programmer, rather than the runtime, is in control of what parts of the code are compiled. This can also compile dynamically generated code, which can, in many scenarios, provide substantial performance advantages over statically compiled code[citation needed], as well as over most JIT systems.