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Developer Creates An Experimental Perl 5 To Java Compiler (perl.org)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the more-than-one-way-to-do-it dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Saturday night saw the announcement of an experimental Perl 5 to Java compiler. "This is the first release," posted developer FlÃvio S. Glock -- after 100 weeks of development. "Note that you don't need to compile a Java file. Perlito5 now compiles the Perl code to JVM bytecode in memory and executes it." He describes the compiler as "a work-in-progress" that "provides an impressive coverage of Perl features, but it will not run most existing Perl programs due to platform differences."

16 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. Perl to Java Bytecode? by KermodeBear · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, that's one way to make Perl even more unreadable. :P

    --
    Love sees no species.
  2. Re:Haven't they buried this yet? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Informative

    Perl 5 must be godawful if you need to compile it to Java.

    It isn't compiled to Java. It is compiled to JVM bytecode. Perl compilers have been done before, so the only new thing here is the backend target ... and that he claims to support "eval" without an embedded interpreter. I don't see how that is possible, and he should get a Turing award if he actually accomplished that.

  3. Dev deserves nerdly kudos - however by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm not sure if there's a practical point to this. Perl is going to be at least as widely supported as Java, so it's not a question of availability. And the dev makes no claims regarding speed... actually the dev makes no claims whatsoever, other than "here it is" and "most perl scripts won't work". If speed were actually the goal, I don't think Java byte code would be the target.

    From the standpoint of being a cool nerd project, though - most definitely. This does seem like a throwback to the "news for nerds" catch phrase.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:Dev deserves nerdly kudos - however by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Java Byte Code is JIT compiled.
      So chances are that it is much faster than the original perl byte code.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  4. oh goodie by ooloorie · · Score: 5, Funny

    The unpalatable compiling to the unspeakable.

    1. Re:oh goodie by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Funny

      And in most cases resulting in the unworkable.

  5. I heard his next project is: by JustNiz · · Score: 2

    Compiler for Bash Scripts to Visual Basic.

    1. Re:I heard his next project is: by glitch! · · Score: 2

      JCL to Javascript! "Run your IBM 360 card decks in your browser!"

      --
      A dingo ate my sig...
    2. Re:I heard his next project is: by JustNiz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I bet there's a dusty old financial institution out there somewhere that would actually love that.

    3. Re:I heard his next project is: by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

      You can get mainframe emulators (the best known is called Hercules) that will run JCL, if you're bonkers enough to want to.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  6. Re:Sadist by king+neckbeard · · Score: 2

    Because you need 'enterprise' and 'synergy' to win at Corporate Buzzword Bingo.

    --
    This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  7. It's been done before by alangmead · · Score: 4, Informative

    Larry Wall made Java Perl Lingo (JPL, named after Larry's previous employer) around the release of Perl 5. O'Reilly first tried to sell it as a commercial software in the Perl Resource Kit, but eventually made it open source http://www.oreilly.com/pub/pr/... in a "dumpware" sort of mode. It eventually became incompatible with newer Perl and Java releases and I want to say it was abandoned, but that is pretending people used it.

  8. Re:Why? by skids · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Probably merging projects in different laguages on the JVM. Also if you are sandboxed to just the JVM, running Perl5 without hitting metal is neat. I dunno for sure, but this could conceivably play a part in helping Perl6's Inline::Perl5 perform on rakudo-jvm.

    --
    Someone had to do it.
  9. Re: Haven't they buried this yet? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

    Considering how long Perl 5 existed before this happened, I'm fairly sure you don't need to do anything of the sort.

    I wasn't aware that Perl still existed until last year. I thought it disappeared in the aftermath of the dot com bust.

  10. Re: Haven't they buried this yet? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

    /. is written in perl ...

    That would explain why /. haven't been updated in 20 years.

  11. Solution in search of a problem by ebvwfbw · · Score: 2

    While it may work and all... why? Why translate Perl that will run, runs well, doesn't have any of the problems of Java... why move it into java?
    Someone after a rube goldberg award?