HLVM Frequently Asked Questions

Here's the list of questions we get frequently. Unlike many FAQ's, this is not a marketing tool. These really are the questions we keep answering.

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Question Index

Answers

How does HLVM compare to other VMs?

The table below provides a comparison of various virtual machines

FeatureHLVMParrotMono (CLR)JVM
Language Support None, yet, but designed to targets any language; focusing first on dynamic languages like Python and Ruby Perl mainly, possibly Python and Tcl in the future. C# mainly, but other languages possible Java almost exclusively: very hard to use JVM for other languages
Execution Models HLVM will be able to execute a program in any of the following models:
  • Interpretation of AST quickly compiled from source (coming).
  • JIT compilation from bytecode (already implemented by LLVM).
  • Native, optimized, binary execution (works now).
TBD TBD TBD
Optimization Offers a wide range of optimization levels from "none" to "life long". Most of this is provided by LLVM and works today. LLVM is "state of the art" for optimizing compilers. The amount of optimization applied can be specified by the user or inferred from the program's usage and workload. TBD TBD TBD
Language Interoperability AST PIR IL JVM Bytecode
License LGPL ? Mono:? CLR:Proprietary ?