In computing, a Java compiler is a computer program that translates programs in Java to Java byte-code. Originally, the word computing was synonymous with counting and calculating, and a computer was a person who computes. ... A computer program (often simply called a program) is an example of computer software that prescribes the actions (computations) that are to be carried out by a computer. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Programming:Java Java is an object-oriented programming language developed initially by James Gosling and colleagues at Sun Microsystems. ... Byte-code is a sort of intermediate code that is more abstract than machine code. ...

As of 2005, the following are major java compilers:

• Javac, included in JDK from Sun Microsystems.
• Jikes, an open source compiler from IBM, which is written in C++ and uses a variant of static single assignment form for optimization.
• GCJ a part of gcc which compiles C, Fortran, Pascal and others besides Java. This can also generate native code using the back-end of gcc.

The bytecode generated is later compiled just-in-time to machine code and optimized using dynamic compilation. Most Java compilers, Jikes being the only exception, do virtually no optimization, leaving this until runtime to be done by the JRE. Even though each compiler uses a different technique, they all generate the same format of bytecode. Sun Microsystems is a computer, semiconductor and software manufacturer headquartered in Santa Clara, California, in Silicon Valley. ... Open source refers to projects that are open to the public and which draw on other projects that are freely available to the general public. ... International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, or colloquially, Big Blue) (NYSE: IBM) (incorporated June 15, 1911, in operation since 1888) is headquartered in Armonk, New York, USA. The company manufactures and sells computer hardware, software, and services. ... C++ (pronounced see plus plus) is a general-purpose computer programming language. ... In compilers, static single assignment form, more often abbreviated SSA form or just SSA, is an intermediate representation in which every variable is assigned exactly once. ... The GNU Compiler for Java (GCJ) is a compiler for the Java programming language that comes as a part of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... See also Just-in-time for the compiler system in computing. ... Dynamic compilation is a process used by interpreting programming languages to gain performance during program execution. ... In mathematics, optimization is the discipline which is concerned with finding the maxima and minima of functions, possibly subject to constraints. ... In computer science, runtime describes the operation of a computer program, the duration of its execution, from beginning to termination (compare compile time). ... JRE can mean Java programming language Justin Reese This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

See also

• Kaffe
• SableVM

Kaffe is a clean room design of the Java virtual machine. ... SableVM is a Clean room implementation of Java Bytecode Interpreter implementing the Java virtual machine specification, second edition. ...

External links

• Jikes homepage (http://jikes.sourceforge.net/)