3 ms·
Middlebrow dismissal. Believe that all of us working in video games want program execution on mobile devices to be as fast as possible. My brand-new desktop PC
by jblow 14y ago
Middlebrow dismissal.
Believe that all of us working in video games want program execution on mobile devices to be as fast as possible. My brand-new desktop PC is not fast enough for what I want to do, so an Android phone running a bytecode interpreter is that much further.
I also don't think you know what "vaporware" means. If it is actually running on physical hardware it's not vaporware; it is just not in consumer hands yet. (Since Engadget has played with it on a physical phone... it is known to be real.)
- wmf 14y agoDon't all mobile OSes now allow C/C++ for games? I know Android 2.3+ does. The difference appears to be that Android encourages Java for non-games while Ubuntu will use C++/Qt.
- ttuominen 14y agoYes, and QML (declarative syntax + Javascript logic) for UI-heavy parts or even complete apps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QML http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QML
- rayiner 14y agoAndroid doesn't use a bytecode interpreter in any modern version.
- ttuominen 14y agoMinor point, but technically a JIT compiler doesn't replace an interpreter. The latter is still there (written in assembly nowadays), and the VM has to trace hotspots and balance the cost of run time compiling vs. the cost of normal interpretation. Of course a JIT code cache helps to avoid the compilation overhead.
- rayiner 14y agoTo be even more nitpicky about it, a JIT compiler can replace an interpreter. There are compile-only JIT's, like Jikes RVM. But good point in this case, especially since Dalvik is a tracing JIT and relies on the interpreter more than a method JIT usually would.