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Interpreters don't translate bytecode to native instructions.

SJC_Hacker 5mo ago
The usual understanding of "interpreter" in a CS context is program that executes source code directly without a compilation step. However the binary that translates an intermediate bytecode to native machine code is at least sometimes called a "bytecode interpreter". https://doc.pypy.org/en/latest/interpreter.html https://doc.pypy.org/en/latest/interpreter.html
- ghusbands 5mo ago
  This is still incorrect. A bytecode interpreter, as its name indicates, interprets a bytecode. Typically, compiling a bytecode to native machine code is the work of a JIT compiler.
genxy 5mo ago
They do now https://github.com/bytecodealliance/weval https://github.com/bytecodealliance/weval
- ghusbands 5mo ago
  That's a partial evaluator, not an interpreter, and it converts an interpreter into compiler, which are different things.
  - genxy 5mo ago
    > Interpreters don't translate bytecode to native instructions. > That's a partial evaluator, not an interpreter, and it converts an interpreter into compiler, which are different things. https://old.reddit.com/r/Compilers/comments/1sm90x5/retrofitting_jit_compilers_into_c_interpreters/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Compilers/comments/1sm90x5/retrofit...
    - ghusbands 5mo ago
      Yes, that's another great example of the same kind of thing - creating a JIT from an interpreter. It remains true that interpreters do not directly generate machine code.
      - genxy 5mo ago
        The author of weval is the top comment. Reading the comments and understanding that transitively, weval turns interpreters into compilers, allowing interpreters to generate machine code.
        direwolf20 5mo ago
        If you turn milk into cheese it isn't milk any more, and it doesn't prove that milk is a yellow solid.
        genxy 5mo ago
        We lost the plot here. What are your goals, to let everyone know that interpreters, definitionally don't generate code? This isn't debate club. I dropped a cool link that shows we have a machine that turns interpreters into compilers. I am talking about the machine. You are talking about the definition. We aren't talking about the same thing.
        ghusbands 5mo ago
        Partly, it's simply that words matter. An interpreter is not a compiler, even if partial evaluators and Futamura transforms are very cool. Posting about them in a context that isn't a confusion about what interpreters are may have been more fruitful.

The usual understanding of "interpreter" in a CS context is program that executes source code directly without a compilation step. However the binary that translates an intermediate bytecode to native machine code is at least sometimes called a "bytecode interpreter". https://doc.pypy.org/en/latest/interpreter.html https://doc.pypy.org/en/latest/interpreter.html

ghusbands 5mo ago
This is still incorrect. A bytecode interpreter, as its name indicates, interprets a bytecode. Typically, compiling a bytecode to native machine code is the work of a JIT compiler.

genxy 5mo ago

They do now https://github.com/bytecodealliance/weval https://github.com/bytecodealliance/weval

ghusbands 5mo ago
That's a partial evaluator, not an interpreter, and it converts an interpreter into compiler, which are different things.
- genxy 5mo ago
  > Interpreters don't translate bytecode to native instructions. > That's a partial evaluator, not an interpreter, and it converts an interpreter into compiler, which are different things. https://old.reddit.com/r/Compilers/comments/1sm90x5/retrofitting_jit_compilers_into_c_interpreters/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Compilers/comments/1sm90x5/retrofit...
  - ghusbands 5mo ago
    Yes, that's another great example of the same kind of thing - creating a JIT from an interpreter. It remains true that interpreters do not directly generate machine code.
    - genxy 5mo ago
      The author of weval is the top comment. Reading the comments and understanding that transitively, weval turns interpreters into compilers, allowing interpreters to generate machine code.
      - direwolf20 5mo ago
        If you turn milk into cheese it isn't milk any more, and it doesn't prove that milk is a yellow solid.
        genxy 5mo ago
        We lost the plot here. What are your goals, to let everyone know that interpreters, definitionally don't generate code? This isn't debate club. I dropped a cool link that shows we have a machine that turns interpreters into compilers. I am talking about the machine. You are talking about the definition. We aren't talking about the same thing.
        ghusbands 5mo ago
        Partly, it's simply that words matter. An interpreter is not a compiler, even if partial evaluators and Futamura transforms are very cool. Posting about them in a context that isn't a confusion about what interpreters are may have been more fruitful.