hlvm/docs/FAQ.html

<!--#set var="title" value="FAQ" -->
<!--#include virtual="/incl/header.incl" -->
<h1>HLVM Frequently Asked Questions</h1>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Didn't find your question? 
<a href="http://hlvm.org/Feedback.php">Submit a new one!</a></p> 
<h2>Question Index</h2>
<table>
  <tr>
    <td style="width:50%">
      <ul>
        <li><a href="#compare">How does HLVM compare to other VMs?</a></li>
      </ul>
    </td>
    <td style="width:50%">
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<h2>Answers</h2>
<h3><a name="compare">How does HLVM compare to other VMs?</a></h3>
<p>The table below provides a comparison of various virtual machines</p>
<table>
  <tr><th>Feature</th><th>HLVM</th><th>Parrot</th><th>Mono (CLR)</th><th>JVM</th></tr>
  <tr><td>Language Support</td>
    <td>None, yet, but designed to targets any language; focusing first on
      dynamic languages like Python and Ruby</td>
    <td>Perl mainly, possibly Python and Tcl in the future.</td>
    <td>C# mainly, but other languages possible</td>
    <td>Java almost exclusively: very hard to use JVM for other languages</td>
  </tr>
  <tr><td>Execution Models</td>
    <td>HLVM will be able to execute a program in any of the following models:
      <ul>
        <li>Interpretation of AST quickly compiled from source (coming).</li>
        <li>JIT compilation from bytecode (already implemented by LLVM).</li>
        <li>Native, optimized, binary execution (works now).</li>
      </ul>
    </td>
    <td>TBD</td>
    <td>TBD</td>
    <td>TBD</td>
  </tr>
  <tr><td>Optimization</td>
    <td>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.
    </td>
    <td>TBD</td>
    <td>TBD</td>
    <td>TBD</td>
  </tr>
  <tr><td>Language Interoperability</td>
    <td>AST</td>
    <td>PIR</td>
    <td>IL</td>
    <td>JVM Bytecode</td>
  </tr>
  <tr><td>License</td>
    <td>LGPL</td>
    <td>?</td>
    <td>Mono:? CLR:Proprietary</td>
    <td>?</td>
  </tr>
</table>
<!--#include virtual="/incl/footer.incl" -->