4 ms·
Emulation visits instructions as they are executed. Static recompilation will (at translation time) visit instructions that can be discovered, even if they neve
by dmitrygr 2mo ago
Emulation visits instructions as they are executed. Static recompilation will (at translation time) visit instructions that can be discovered, even if they never run.
eg:
if (rand64() == 0x123456789abcdef0ull)
baz = bar;
an emulator will likely never visit that assignment. A static recompiler will translate it.
- throwaway27448 2mo agoHm. What is the utility of this distinction? Anyway, qemu certainly seems like it would fall under your definition of "emulator" despite obviously dynamically recompiling.
- dmitrygr 2mo agowhich is why i said "static recompiler" and not just "recompiler" distinction is that an emulator is much simpler, while a static recompiler is a lot more work and thus ~30% more cool
- throwaway27448 2mo agoAh. I admit I've only ever made dynamic recompilers
- monocasa 2mo agoIDK, a lot of the emulators I've seen and a couple I've written will visit that. Not everything is built on simple traces, but a lot of the time will translate more complex graphs at a time.