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The dynamic compilation of lazy functional programs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1998

DAVID WAKELING
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4PT, UK (web: http://www.dcs.exeter.ac.uk/∼david)
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Abstract

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Lazy functional languages seem to be unsuitable for programming embedded computers because their implementations require so much memory for program code and graph. In this paper we describe a new abstract machine for the implementation of lazy functional languages on embedded computers called the X-machine. The X-machine has been designed so that program code can be stored compactly as byte code, yet run quickly using dynamic compilation. Our first results are promising – programs typically require only 33% of the code space of an ordinary implementation, but run at 75% of the speed. Future work needs to concentrate on reducing the size of statically-allocated data and the run-time system, and on developing a more detailed understanding of throw-away compilation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press
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