@device(postscript)
@libraryfile(Mathematics10)
@libraryfile(Accents)
@style(fontfamily=timesroman,fontscale=11)
@pagefooting(immediate, left "@c<Technical Report 1996>",
center "@c<Computer Science>",
right "@c<Carnegie Mellon>")
@heading(Java as an Intermediate Language)
@heading(CMU-CS-96-161)
@center(@b(Jonathan C. Hardwick, Jay Sipelstein))
@center(August 1996)
@center(FTP: CMU-CS-96-161.ps.Z)
@blankspace(1)
@begin(text)

We present our experiences in using Java as an intermediate language for
the high-level programming language NESL.  First, we describe the design
and implementation of a system for translating VCODE@y(M)the current
intermediate language used by NESL@y(M)into Java.  Second, we evaluate
this translation by comparing the performance of the original VCODE
implementation with several variants of the Java implementation.  The
translator was easy to build, and the generated Java code achieves
reasonable performance when using a just-in-time compiler.  We conclude
that Java is attractive both as a compilation target for rapid
prototyping of new programming languages and as a means of improving the
portability of existing programming languages.

@blankspace(2line)
@begin(transparent,size=10)
@b(Keywords:@ )@c<Java, NESL, VCODE, compiler, intermediate language,
performance, prototyping>
@end(transparent)
@blankspace(1line)
@end(text)
@flushright(@b[(19 pages)])