[Python-Dev] Parrot -- should life imitate satire?

[Steven D. Majewski]

On Mon, 30 Jul 2001, Andrew Kuchling wrote:

> If you must have a portable bytecode format, why not use the JVM?
> Perhaps it's not optimal, but it works reasonably well, has a few
> reasonably complete free implementations that are mostly strangling
> due to lack of manpower, has some support in GCC 3.0, and is actually
> deployed in browsers and on people's systems *right now*.  I fail to
> see why we should run after some mythical Perl/Python bytecode that
> would have to be 1) designed 2) implemented 3) debugged 4) actually
> made available to users 5) actually downloaded by users.  (Much the
> same objections apply to .NET for Unix.)

Some of the folks who have done other languages on the JVM have 
complained about limitations of the Java VM when it comes to supporting
features of other languages. 

Supposedly, Microsoft considered some of those critiques when designing
the C# runtime & VM. 

If, in fact, they have done a better job of generic VM design, then
.NET may be worth lookint at. ( Especially as there is now 
Miguel de Icaza's Mono project. ) 

( Of course, politically, that may be inviting a lot of arguments -- 
see the slashdot threads about whether Mono is a good idea, or is
just open source getting suckered by MS! ) 

-- Steve Majewski