[virtmach] Test, Hello

Stephen Pelc sfp@mpeltd.demon.co.uk
Thu, 20 Apr 2000 11:12:35 +0100


> thaddaeus.frogley@creaturelabs.com writes:
> > I'm Thad, and I'm working on an alife based game engine for a well know
> > developer, and I'm about to start work on the virtual machine ...
> > this will be my first VM.  I have 1 week to come up with a design
> > / schedule proposal, based on an initial estimate of a 2 months development
> > cycle.
> I think that you have an impossible task, unless your initial two
> months is *really* initial; like proof-of-concept and you get to throw
> it out and start over from scratch. Do you also have to design the
> programming language in which scripts will be written? Do you have a
> clear specificatio of the semantic requirements of the scripting
> language or is it a pile of marketing hot air? Are you building the
> bytecode compiler?

I've designed several VMs with these kinds of constraints. One 
of these was modified to become Europay's Open Terminal 
Architecture. The specs may well still be in the SmartCard 
section at www.europay.com.

One has to ask the question of why roll your own when there are 
many such systems already in existence? It certainly is great 
fun, but since there are people like us with VMs and compilers 
already in place ...

--
Stephen Pelc, sfp@mpeltd.demon.co.uk
MicroProcessor Engineering Ltd - More Real, Less Time
133 Hill Lane, Southampton SO15 5AF, England
tel: +44 1703 631441, fax: +44 1703 339691
web: http://www.mpeltd.demon.co.uk