I'm putting this in DevOps for archiving, but it's for the main board also... many of you have comp sci backgrounds, though I have taken a lot of comp sci courses (my degrees are in CIS) I don't know the answer to this question: how do interpreted languages like Python and PERL handle the step after compilation where the object code needs to be linked with and libraries and subprograms needed? It would seem that this would make interpreted vs compiled languages unfeasibly slow... too slow for ... moreI'm putting this in DevOps for archiving, but it's for the main board also... many of you have comp sci backgrounds, though I have taken a lot of comp sci courses (my degrees are in CIS) I don't know the answer to this question: how do interpreted languages like Python and PERL handle the step after compilation where the object code needs to be linked with and libraries and subprograms needed? It would seem that this would make interpreted vs compiled languages unfeasibly slow... too slow for something like Firefox to be written in Python. I know interpreters have gotten a lot faster, but fast enough to ostensibly skip the link-edit step?
cameron seayMy friend Chip Davis, who probably knows more about REXX than anyone on the planet except its creator Mike Cowlishaw, gave me a very lucid and extended answer that I will summarize here for brevity's sake: That is what REXX is built to do. Access to all libraries and functions is provided on demand by the interpreter. He further went on to say that the COBOL compiler works the way it does- that is linking the libraries- was to save cycles back when they were much more expensive. Modern inte... moreMy friend Chip Davis, who probably knows more about REXX than anyone on the planet except its creator Mike Cowlishaw, gave me a very lucid and extended answer that I will summarize here for brevity's sake: That is what REXX is built to do. Access to all libraries and functions is provided on demand by the interpreter. He further went on to say that the COBOL compiler works the way it does- that is linking the libraries- was to save cycles back when they were much more expensive. Modern interpreters are not under that constraint If anyone has anything to correct or add, please do. I always want to be on solid technical ground.
