Python/Parrot still alive?

["Martin v. Löwis"]

Paul Prescod wrote:
> It is interesting how interpreters have been rebranded as "virtual 
> machines." Python people still use the word "interpreter" and that is 
> probably not great from a marketing point of view.

I personally make a distinction between an interpreter and a virtual
machine. A virtual machine is one that has a "machine code", i.e. a
set of abstract instructions, operating on machine state. In Python,
the abstract set of instructions is the Python byte code, and the
abstract state is the collection of frame objects, etc.

Some interpreters don't have virtual machines, e.g. Tcl did not
have one until Tcl 8 or so. OTOH, not all virtual machines are
interpreted, e.g. MS .NET is always compiled to native code
("just in time" :-) instead of being interpreted.

Regards,
Martin