Advantage of intermediate representations after compilation

Question

Whats the point of having an intermediate representation after compilation (for eg Java has bytecode) if you still have to design a separate software (JVM in this case) for every platform ? I mean platform dependency is still there!!

Write Once, Run Anywhere is the slogan. It should be Compile Once, Run Anywhere. — Peter Lawrey, Oct 01 '13 at 15:55

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 01 '13 at 15:54

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So that you don't need to write the code for every platform.

answered Oct 01 '13 at 15:54

Rhys

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Juned Ahsan · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-01T15:56:07.583

1

Whats the point of having an intermediate representation after compilation (for eg Java has bytecode) if you still have to design a separate software (JVM in this case) for every platform ?

Because you don't have to re-write and re-compile it on all/different platforms. This is the beauty of java Write once run anywhere feature.

Being a developer I need not to worry which OS platform my code will run. I simply need to compile and provide the classes, which will be valid for all the platforms for the same java version.

edited Oct 01 '13 at 15:56

answered Oct 01 '13 at 15:47

Juned Ahsan

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thats the shortest most effective explanation! – ishan3243 Oct 01 '13 at 15:49
I was thinking since interpretation is slower, why isnt the bytecode converted to machine code via compilation? – ishan3243 Oct 01 '13 at 20:31

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 02 '13 at 11:49

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Write once - Use anywhere

that's a principal of java Bytecode

answered Oct 02 '13 at 11:49

Yasa

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Advantage of intermediate representations after compilation

3 Answers3