Abstract:
We present a Java compiler architecture which uses a unique combination of front- and back-ends to deliver great flexibility. Our compiler is designed to use the same optimization passes no matter which pair of front- and back-end is used. The compiler can be configured as a traditional stand-alone compiler (which compiles Java source into Java bytecodes). Another configuration can be used as an on-the-fly optimizer (which optimizes applets as they are loaded from the network). We can also compile Java directly to native code, thus using Java as a replacement for one of the traditional programming languages. Other interesting setups are also possible. This flexibility is achieved by using a common intermediate representation, JavaIR (Java Intermediate Representation). Multiple front-ends convert various input formats (Java source, bytecode) into JavaIR. Once represented as JavaIR an application can be transformed with any of the existing passes.