What amazes me is how close Ruby 1.9 bytecode and Python 2.5 bytecode are. Some things translate almost directly. [...] And, really, if that’s true (and I vouch that it is truly, truly true,) then how are Python and Ruby still on separate runtimes?
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Easy. Never concede the runtime!
Robert - 6th May 2008 03:04 - #
I think either the Parrot project or the Tamarin VM plan to add Ruby and Python.
Scott - 6th May 2008 04:22 - #
Compiling other languages to Python bytecode has been done before, of course, but given the similarities between Ruby and Python, one has to wonder why it has taken so long for someone to do this.
One reason for developers not to target the CPython VM is that they might want the freedom to go their own way and to adopt a more efficient approach in compiling and then executing VM instructions, but if Ruby 1.9's VM is so similar to Python's, one has to wonder why they've bothered from a technical perspective (although there are some reasons from a freedom/independence perspective).
Paul Boddie - 6th May 2008 12:49 - #
My guess is that the number of people that have a deep understanding of the intricacies of both languages and also cares deeply about them both is a rather tiny number.
Fredrik - 8th May 2008 18:21 - #