Adobe Releases C/C++ To Flash Compiler

SnT2k writes "Adobe recently released the beta version of Alchemy which compiles C/C++ code into AS3 bytecode (which runs on AVM2) that can run on the Flash or Flex platform and boasts increased performance for computationally-intensive tasks (but still slower than native C/C++). It was demonstrated last year during the Chicago MAX 2007 to run Quake. A few months later it has been demonstrated to run a Python interpreter and Nintendo Emulator. One interesting tidbit is that the thing is built upon the open source LLVM Compiler Infrastructure."

Comments

Re:It has been said

[m50d]

This seems to further cement flash as a worthy application environment, especially given the perceived problem in flash appeared to be its inefficiency.

Huh? You think this method is going to give anything remotely resembling the efficiency of native code? Unless the flash script language is really badly written, the performance will be even worse than programs that were manually written in flash.

Re:Virtualize Everything

[Halo1]

There's nothing inherently bad about the concept. It's in fact quite interesting to have the JVM optimise itself along with the programs running inside it. And while the JikesRVM, being a research VM, does not run as fast as Sun's VM or IBM's commercial VMs, it's not that slow either (definitely not as slow as you'd first think of a JVM implemented in Java).

Re:This is not where Adobes priorities should be!

[Locke2005]

This is why I'm actually pleased to see Microsoft pushing Silverlight; if nothing else, it forces Adobe to get off their ass and actually make the Flash 10 SDK available platforms other than Mac OS and Windows! I'm still waiting for Flash 8/Flash 9 content to work on my Wii and on my Android G1 phone, since almost all 'net video is using Flash now. (Looks like the Android Flash support will be there pretty soon. I still think Silverlight gave them a powerful incentive to get their act together on this.)

Re:Virtualize Everything

[fm6]

If you have a complete C++ application that runs fine on native code, then obviously this would be silly. But if you bothered to RTFA, you know that this serves a simple and obvious purpose: reuse. If you need rendering code for your Flash game, and the best code available is in C or C++, it's a lot easier to just recompile the code than it is to hand-translate the code into ActionScript.

Re:This is not where Adobes priorities should be!

[Locke2005]

I have been working on two large enterprise class applications using their Flex/AIR framework...

I think I see your problem right there... there is nothing like using the right tools for the job, and this is nothing like using the right tools for the job. ;-)

Re:This is not where Adobes priorities should be!

[NouberNou]

I completely agree... :( But we are stuck with it.

Really though they are not that big. One is a graphing and reporting application, and another is a web interface for a CMS that we developed in house as a product.

The first could have been done in Java, or a cross-platform C++ framework like Qt (though that would remove the selling point that it runs on the desktop and the browser), and the second could be done purely in JS, so there were alternatives, maybe more appropriate ones, but they were not taken.

Re:It has been said

[StreetStealth]

I'd be willing to wager that you've used responsibly designed Flash applets before and simply assumed them to be cleverly implemented Javascript because they didn't explode all over the screen in a cavalcade of light and sound.

Nothing about Flash compels the developer or designer to author something "garish and obnoxious" any more than Javascript or CSS do. Its versatility merely allows for greater abuse.