Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Development

    Ruby Shines on All Platforms

    By
    Darryl K. Taft
    -
    February 4, 2008
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      REDMOND, Wash. — As the Ruby language becomes more popular, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and others are working on ways to make the language run better on various platforms.

      John Lam, a program manager on the Microsoft DLR (Dynamic Language Runtime) team and the creator of the RubyCLR bridge for Ruby developers to write Ruby code on the Microsoft CLR (Common Language Runtime), spoke about Microsoft’s effort to deliver an implementation of Ruby for the .Net platform, known as IronRuby.

      Lam spoke at the Lang.NET conference on Microsoft’s campus here Jan. 30, noting that Ruby is a “cross-generational” language because “old fogies and young kids” alike like to use the language. Some folks are using the Ruby-based Ruby on Rails framework for large-scale data center work, Lam said.

      However, Lam added that his goal is to see Ruby run in as many places as possible.

      “We want it to run natively on Windows and wherever the DLR runs,” including Linux and the Mac, he said. “And almost everybody is interested in running Rails on top of our implementation.”

      Lam pointed to the various implementations in the works, including his own IronRuby effort, Sun’s JRuby, Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Ruby.Net and the Rubinius virtual machine and compiler for Ruby. IronRuby thus far passes 57 percent of the Rubinius test suite. However, the project has debugging support and has inherited the “tokenizer” and parser from the QUT project.

      Meanwhile, as the interfaces between the DLR and IronRuby are still in the process of being solidified, Lam said Microsoft is not yet ready to open up the entire project to outside developers. In addition, the IronRuby team has done nothing in the way of performance tuning, he said, adding that the effort is still early and the IronRuby team continues to work toward a beta and then a 1.0 release.

      Wayne Kelly, a lecturer at QUT and lead on the Ruby.NET project, said the effort started in 2005 after QUT had done some work in 2003 on delivering a version of the Perl language for the .Net platform — Perl.Net, funded by Microsoft Research.

      Kelly said the first beta release of the Ruby.NET compiler came out in 2006 and it was based on early results coming out of Microsoft’s IronPython project to deliver an implementation of the Python language on the .Net platform.

      The Da Vinci Machine

      The Ruby.NET project produced the Gardens Point Parser Generator, which was then used in other .Net language projects and found its way into Visual Studio, Kelly said. Yet, despite several ongoing Ruby development efforts, “there’s no real potential for reuse from the different teams,” he said.

      “If we were to start this project today we’d be crazy not to use the DLR,” Kelly said. “It’s superior to the approach we adopted,” but the DLR was not available when Kelly’s effort started.

      Meanwhile, Sun is working on its own approach to delivering new languages on the JVM (Java Virtual Machine). John Rose, a Sun engineer and lead of a Sun project known as the Da Vinci Machine, said his company “had to do something like the CLR.”

      The JVM provided flexible online code tooling, reflective access to classes and objects, lots of ancillary tools, good libraries and clever performance techniques, Rose said.

      But some things have been missing that would enable other languages to run easily on the JVM, such as dynamic invocation, higher performance, lightweight method objects, continuations and stack introspection, and others, Rose said.

      Enter the Da Vinci Machine.

      “We are extending the JVM with first-class architectural support for languages other than Java, especially dynamic languages,” said the mission statement for the Da Vinci Machine project on Sun’s Web site. “This project will prototype a number of extensions to the JVM, so that it can run non-Java languages efficiently, with a performance level comparable to that of Java itself.”

      Rose said that he hopes this project will make the JVM useful for all language implementations. “We want first-class support [for other languages on the JVM]. I think of Java as a great systems programming language for these other languages.”

      Charles Nutter, a lead developer on the JRuby effort to create an implementation of Ruby for the JVM, said that until a year ago the JRuby implementation was fully interpreted, but as of November, “we had the compiler complete.” It runs in two modes: AOT (ahead-of-time) and JIT (just-in-time) compiling.

      Darryl K. Taft
      Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×