oracle/graal
Graal
GraalVM is a polyglot virtual machine and high-performance runtime designed to execute multiple programming languages within a single environment. It functions as a JVM language toolkit for building language implementations, a native image compiler for transforming bytecode into standalone binaries, and an execution environment for LLVM bitcode and WebAssembly modules.
The project is distinguished by its polyglot interoperability framework, which allows different languages to share data and execution state with low overhead. It utilizes self-modifying abstract syntax trees to optimize language interpreters into machine code and provides a native image compiler to eliminate startup latency and reduce memory footprints.
The platform covers broad capability areas including ahead-of-time native compilation, bytecode-to-WebAssembly translation, and isolated sandbox execution. It also provides developer tooling for cross-language instrumentation, multi-language build orchestration, and the visualization of compiler intermediate representations.
Users can compile custom JDK and runtime distributions from source to create tailored execution environments.
Features
- Polyglot Application Development - Runs multiple programming languages within a single runtime to share data and logic across language boundaries.
- Native AOT Compilation - Implements native ahead-of-time compilation to transform bytecode into standalone binaries for faster startup.
- Language Implementation Frameworks - Provides a framework for building high-performance language implementations using self-modifying abstract syntax trees.
- Language Interoperability - Implements a low-overhead interoperability framework for sharing data and state between different programming languages.
- LLVM Bitcode Executors - Provides a virtual machine capable of running programs compiled to LLVM bitcode.
- Cross-Language Compilation - Transforms multiple programming languages into optimized machine code using a dynamic compiler and virtual machine.
- Dynamic Polyglot Optimizations - Implements a dynamic compiler that integrates with a virtual machine to provide high-performance execution for diverse languages.
- Language Embedding - Integrates multiple programming language implementations into a single runtime to allow cross-language execution and interoperability.
- Polyglot Virtual Machines - Functions as a high-performance runtime executing multiple programming languages within a single environment.
- Custom Distributions - Allows compiling and tailoring a custom Java development kit or runtime to optimize performance for specific environments.
- Language-Agnostic Runtimes - Provides a language-agnostic runtime that supports multiple language parsers through a unified native interface.
- WebAssembly - Executes WebAssembly binary modules within an application or as standalone processes using a standardized interface.
- Self-Modifying ASTs - Uses self-modifying abstract syntax trees to optimize language interpreters into high-performance machine code.
- JDK Distribution Builders - Allows compiling a high-performance runtime and compiler from source to create a tailored JDK.
- Cross-Language Profilers & Debuggers - Enables the creation of debuggers and profilers that work across different languages via a shared abstract syntax tree.
- Real-Time Performance Profilers - Provides high-precision, real-time instrumentation for analyzing and optimizing execution across multi-language environments.
- LLVM Bitcode Executors - Runs programs compiled to LLVM bitcode within a high-performance virtual machine to support a wide range of compiled languages.
- Regular Expression Engines - Matches strings using a finite-state automaton to ensure linear search performance and prevent exponential execution times.
- Dynamic Execution in Native Images - Allows loading and running Java bytecode dynamically from within an ahead-of-time compiled native executable.
- Cross-Language Instrumentation - Provides a shared framework for attaching debuggers and profilers to multiple languages executing in one system.
- Bytecode Translators - Compiles JVM bytecode into WebAssembly binary format for execution in browsers or standalone runtimes.
- Runtime Builds - Enables compiling a full runtime distribution, including the SDK and JIT compiler, from source.
- Isolated Execution Sandboxes - Provides secure, isolated sandbox environments to run untrusted code without compromising the host system.
- Compiler Graph Visualization - Includes a graphical tool to inspect and analyze the compiler's intermediate representation to understand the compilation process.
- Runtime Language Instrumentation - Provides a specialized framework to attach external developer tools, such as multi-language debuggers, to running language implementations.
- WebAssembly Compilation - Transforms JVM bytecode into WebAssembly binaries for execution in browsers or standalone runtimes.
- JVM and JDK Implementations - Polyglot embeddable JVM for high-performance execution.
