InfoQ Homepage Compilers Content on InfoQ
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Developer Angst on Microsoft Visual C++ Futures
Yesterday a video was posted to the Visual C++ blog in an attempt to answer community concerns about its future. The post hit a raw nerve with the C++ community with no response from the Visual C++ team as yet.
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LLVM 2.8 Released
The LLVM team yesterday released LLVM 2.8, the low-level virtual machine infrastructure that includes a next-generation C/C++ compiler, optimiser, and run-time. In addition, the LLVM also sports a VMKit for CLR and JVM runtime and is used in tools as diverse as MacRuby and Python's Unladen Swallow. Additionally, the recently-released Mono 2.8 has a mono-llvm runtime. So what's new in LLVM 2.8?
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CoffeeScript - JavaScript the Good Parts
As CoffeeScript 0.9.0 was just released, we asked Jeremy Ashkenas to give us some insights into the language. He intends it to be known as "Javascript as you would have liked it to be." CoffeeScript is source to source cross compiled to JavaScript and provides many interesting language cleanups and enhancements and some additional features.
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JetBrains MPS 1.1: Performance Improvements and Easier Debugging
Half a year ago, Meta-Programming System (MPS) version 1.0 was released by JetBrains. Following up on this, the 1.1 release occurred in December. InfoQ revisited the current state of the language workbench, which is provided as an open source product under an Apache 2.0 license (with the exception of the JetBrains IDE framework, which was extracted from IntelliJ IDEA and which is not open source).
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Lua: Embeddable Scripting Engine, LuaJIT 2.0 Includes New High-Performance VM
Lua is a scripting language that can be embedded in any application that can provide hooks for its C API. Version 2.0 of its JIT compiler is in Beta and includes a completely re-written VM based on a trace compiler and an interpreter written in assembler.
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CSI C# Interpreter Supports .NET 4.0
CSI is a simple C# interpreter allowing command-line compilation of standalone C# files. A new version has been released to support .NET 4.0. CSI is open source with a full test suite.
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Maven and JRuby Roundup: Maven_gem Brings Maven Libs to RubyGems, GemCutter Inspires JavaGems
JRuby's Charles Nutter is making Maven artifacts installable as RubyGems. An alternative to using Maven is JavaGems, built on RubyGems, Bundler and Gemcutter to make it easier to install libraries for Scala, Clojure and other JVM languages. Also, JRuby gets the ability to generate real Java classes.
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Clojure 1.1 Adds Transients, Chunked Sequences for Efficiency
Clojure 1.1 RC1 is out and cuts the overhead of functional programming with a few new constructs: transients bring controlled mutability for persistent data structures; chunked sequences make lazy sequences more efficient. InfoQ takes a look at what makes these improvements work.
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.NET 4.0 Brings XAML 2009, but Not for WPF Users
At PDC 2009, Michael Shim and Rob Relyea presented Microsoft’s plans for the future of XAML. Long term, they plan on unifying the various XAML languages and parsers, but for now developers will only get XAML 2009 for non-UI technologies like Workflow Foundation. The new parser, on the other hand, will bring new functionality to everyone who needs to analyze, manipulate, or generate XAML.
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JRuby's New IR Paves the Way for Future Performance Improvements
A new intermediate representation (IR) for JRuby code enables many optimizations and could bring the next performance boost. InfoQ talked to Subbu Sastry who works on the IR.
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MacRuby 0.5 Beta Brings JIT, AOT, GCD Support, Removes GIL
The first beta of MacRuby 0.5 is available, complete with a new VM, JIT and AOT - and without the GIL. InfoQ talked to the MacRuby core team about the state of MacRuby and whether there'll be a way to write Ruby apps for the iPhone using MacRuby.
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New Installer Provides a Much Faster Ruby for Windows
Luis Lavena is working on an update to the Ruby installer for Windows, including a new Ruby binary built with a modern compiler. Benchmarks show Ruby 1.8.6 running more than twice as fast than previously. We talked to Luis Lavena about the new Ruby Installer.
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A Type System for Scala Actors to Enforce Race Safety Without Sacrificing Performance
Philipp Haller and Martin Odersky introduce a type system that enables safe massage transfer in Scala actors. Formalized as an extension of the EPFL Scala compiler, “Object Capability Types” system, based on capability checking and external uniqueness, enforces race safety without sacrificing performance and removes significant limitations on message shape imposed by existing approaches.
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Ruby VM Roundup: IronRuby 1.0 Coming Up, RubySpec, JRuby 1.3.1
IronRuby's alive and kicking - and will go 1.0 in July. We look at some resources to get up to speed with IronRuby's status. Also: JRuby 1.3.1 is an important bug fix update for JRuby users, MacRuby continues to improve and MagLev now comes with a native parser.
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JRuby Roundup: JRuby 1.3 Released, ruby2java, JSR 292 Progress
JRuby 1.3 is now available, bringing performance improvements and compatibility with Google AppEngine. Work on other improvements is continuing and a first version of the ruby2java compiler is now available. Also: InvokeDynamic support is making it's way into the builds for the next Java version.