Interpreted or Compiled?
What would you say: is Java an interpreted or a compiled language? What about C, C++, Python, Smalltalk, JavaScript, APL?
Laurie Tratt has written two (1, 2) absolutely wonderful (read: scientifically and technically nerdy) blog posts about the matter. He uses the Brainfuck programming language (it is less NSFW than the name suggests, but I will continue to use its name in abbreviated form, i.e., “bf”) and a series of implementations thereof that increasingly blur the boundary between interpreted and compiled.
The blog posts resonate with me especially because I use bf myself whenever I want to learn a new programming language: I just write an interpreter (or compiler?) for bf in that language.
These are two rather entertaining reads, and they will leave the reader in a better shape for the next inevitable discussion of whether this or that language is interpreted or compiled.
Tags: hacking, the-nerdy-bit