An Object Storage Model for the Truffle Language Implementation Framework
Woss, Andreas and Wirth, Christian and Bonetta, Daniele and Seaton, Chris and Humer, Christian and Mossenbock, Hanspeter
Abstract
Truffle is a Java-based framework for developing high-performance language runtimes. Language implementers aiming at developing new runtimes have to design all the runtime mechanisms for managing dynamically typed objects from scratch. This not only leads to potential code duplication, but also impacts the actual time needed to develop a fully-fledged runtime. In this paper we address this issue by introducing a common object storage model (OSM) for Truffle that can be used by language implementers to develop new runtimes. The OSM is generic, language-agnostic, and portable, as it can be used to implement a great variety of dynamic languages. It is extensible, featuring built-in support for custom extension mechanisms. It is also high-performance, as it is designed to benefit from the optimizing compiler in the Truffle framework. Our initial evaluation indicates that the Truffle OSM can be used to implement high-performance language runtimes, with no performance overhead when compared to language-specific solutions.