The Java Language with its clean design and object oriented focus is quickly revolutionizing the programming world. But unfortunately, the road to the embedded space has one major roadblock: Performance. Poor Java execution times threaten the success of many embedded projects. At the heart of every Java™ runtime is a bytecode engine which processes Java instructions (bytecodes) residing in higher software layers. This engine is directly responsible for Java execution speed. Today's embedded Java runtimes suffer poor performance due to the following factors: Cost constraints limit microprocessor speed, memory and on-chip cache size Java is new in the embedded space and still somewhat immature there Interpreters are slow compiled 'C' code or assembler source that mimics such code Some processors use software floating-point which is typically inefficient Memory constraints and small caches greatly limit adaptive compiler (JIT) performance Bytecodes provides tiny yet fast interpreters that normally execute entirely inside microprocessor on-chip cache. And since our interpreters treat Java code as data, the entire data cache is available to hold executing programs. The result? Java speed which eliminates the need for costly hardware assists and memory consuming JITs.

 

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