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I would argue the other way. Something which requires a base implementation to be installed on a system which generates different machine code based on a single
by SmallDeadGuy 9y ago
I would argue the other way. Something which requires a base implementation to be installed on a system which generates different machine code based on a single specification is less portable than a macro processor generating different versions of a program. Sure, people will have had something like python installed since a long time ago, but a new setup requires downloading 2 objects (the base implementation and the program) compared to a single one (a platform-specific copy of a program).
- reikonomusha 9y agoYou still need to download two objects: the C code and the C compiler, even if the C code has already been processed. Edit: Not to mention libc, libm, and the like.
- SmallDeadGuy 9y agoYou don't need a C compiler to run an already compiled program. You may need libraries, just like almost every language, but only the developer needs to download the compiler and not every single user. It gives options to the developer to target multiple platforms without extra effort from the users of those platforms.
- willtim 9y agoHow is the deployment of a high-level runtime different from libc? Both can be statically-linked if required.