International Workshop on Interpreted Languages

Sebastian Bergmann writes "Interpreted programming languages are increasingly gaining importance in both the commercial and scientific world. The 1st International Workshop on Interpreted Languages that will be held during the Net.ObjectDays 2004 conference this fall in Erfurt, Germany takes this into account and will present current developments from the exciting world of interpreted languages. The Call for Papers was recently announced and research papers and industry case studies related to Interpreted Languages can be submitted until April 23rd, 2004."

Comments

Superior Edit-Run cycles

[G4from128k]

I've always enjoyed the superior edit-rerun cycle that comes with many interpreted languages. You bang out a few lines of code, hit return and see the results immediately.

Compiled languages may be faster for silicon hardware, but interpreted languages are often faster for neural wetware. Given the decreasing cost of silicon and the increasing cost of labor, interpretted langauges should see increase usage for many "small" programming tasks.

Re:Superior Edit-Run cycles

[LeonardShelby]

I've always enjoyed the superior edit-rerun cycle that comes with many interpreted languages. You bang out a few lines of code, hit return and see the results immediately.

You can get close to this with compiled languages that use incremental compilers, like the Eiffel compiler from Eiffel Software. You still have to hit the Compile button (it's an IDE), but it will only compile what it has to. If you've only changed a line or two, the compile step could flash right by. The compiler is even good enough to figure out what has been affected by your change, and only compile those portions (even if they are just at the routine level). All this without a make file, no less.

Then, when you're ready to ship, you compile to native code (the above is more or less interpreted), with full optimizations on, and you're set.

The extra benefit comes when you've got a lot of existing code that may or may not be affected, even in small ways, from your new work. Compiles might take a while in traditional systems, but they don't have to if your compiler is smart enough. All that saved time can add up.