Java Virtual Machine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Java Virtual Machine (JVM) enables a set of computer software programs and data
structures to use a virtual machine model for the execution of other computer programs and
scripts. The model used by a JVM accepts a form of computer intermediate language commonly
referred to as Java bytecode. This language conceptually represents the instruction set of a stack-
oriented, capability architecture. Sun Microsystems claims there are over 4.5 billion JVM-
enabled devices.[1]

Contents
• 1 Overview
• 2 Execution environment
• 3 JVM languages
• 4 Bytecode verifier
• 5 Bytecode instructions
• 6 Secure execution of remote code
• 7 C to bytecode compilers
• 8 Licensing
• 9 Heap
• 10 See also
• 11 Notes
• 12 References

• 13 External links

Overview
A JVM can also implement programming languages other than Java. For example, Ada source
code can be compiled to Java bytecode, which may then be executed by a JVM. JVMs can also
be released by other companies besides Sun (the developer of Java) — JVMs using the "Java"
trademark may be developed by other companies as long as they adhere to the JVM specification
published by Sun and to related contractual obligations.

Java was conceived with the concept of WORA: "write once, run anywhere". This is done using
the Java Virtual Machine. The JVM is the environment in which java programs execute. It is
software that is implemented on non-virtual hardware and on standard operating systems.

JVM is a crucial component of the Java platform, and because JVMs are available for many
hardware and software platforms, Java can be both middleware and a platform in its own right,
[clarification needed]
hence the trademark write once, run anywhere. The use of the same bytecode for all
platforms allows Java to be described as "compile once, run anywhere", as opposed to "write
once, compile anywhere", which describes cross-platform compiled languages. A JVM also
enables such features as automated exception handling, which provides "root-cause" debugging
information for every software error (exception), independent of the source code.

A JVM is distributed along with a set of standard class libraries that implement the Java
application programming interface (API). Appropriate APIs bundled together form the Java
Runtime Environment (JRE).

Execution environment
Programs intended to run on a JVM must be compiled into a standardized portable binary format,
which typically comes in the form of .class files. A program may consist of many classes in
different files. For easier distribution of large programs, multiple class files may be packaged
together in a .jar file (short for Java archive).

The JVM runtime executes .class or .jar files, emulating the JVM instruction set by
interpreting it, or using a just-in-time compiler (JIT) such as Sun's HotSpot. JIT compiling, not
interpreting, is used in most JVMs today to achieve greater speed. There are also ahead-of-time
compilers that enable developers to precompile class files into native code for particular
platforms.

Like most virtual machines, the Java Virtual Machine has a stack-based architecture akin to a
microcontroller/microprocessor. However, the JVM also has low-level support for Java-like
classes and methods, which amounts to a highly idiosyncratic[clarification needed] memory model and
capability-based architecture.

The JVM, which is the instance of the 'JRE' (Java Runtime Environment), comes into action
when a Java program is executed. When execution is complete, this instance is garbage
collected. JIT is the part of the JVM that is used to speed up the execution time. JIT compiles
parts of the bytecode that have similar functionality at the same time, and hence reduces the
amount of time needed for compiling.

JVM languages Languages designed expressly for JVM

MIDletPascal
Versions of non-JVM languages See also: Da Vinci Clojure
Language On JVM Machine and List of Groovy
Erlang Erjang JVM languages Scala
JavaScript Rhino
Although the JVM was primarily aimed at running compiled
PHP Resin
Java programs, many other languages can now run on top of it.
Python Jython [3]
The JVM has currently no built-in support for dynamically
[2]
REXX NetRexx typed languages: the existing JVM instruction set is statically
Ruby JRuby typed,[4] although the JVM can be used to implement
Tcl Jacl interpreters for dynamic languages. The JVM has a limited
support for dynamically modifying existing classes and methods; this currently only works in a
debugging environment, where new classes and methods can be added dynamically. Built-in
support for dynamic languages is currently planned for Java 7.[5]

Bytecode verifier
A basic philosophy of Java is that it is inherently "safe" from the standpoint that no user program
can "crash" the host machine or otherwise interfere inappropriately with other operations on the
host machine, and that it is possible to protect certain methods and data structures belonging to
"trusted" code from access or corruption by "untrusted" code executing within the same JVM.
Furthermore, common programmer errors that often lead to data corruption or unpredictable
behavior such as accessing off the end of an array or using an uninitialized pointer are not
allowed to occur. Several features of Java combine to provide this safety, including the class
model, the garbage-collected heap, and the verifier.

The JVM verifies all bytecode before it is executed. This verification consists primarily of three
types of checks:

• Branches are always to valid locations

• Data is always initialized and references are always type-safe
• Access to "private" or "package private" data and methods is rigidly controlled.

The first two of these checks take place primarily during the "verification" step that occurs when
a class is loaded and made eligible for use. The third is primarily performed dynamically, when
data items or methods of a class are first accessed by another class.

The verifier permits only some bytecode sequences in valid programs, e.g. a jump (branch)
instruction can only target an instruction within the same method. Furthermore, the verifier
ensures that any given instruction operates on a fixed stack location,[6] allowing the JIT compiler
to transform stack accesses into fixed register accesses. Because of this, that the JVM is a stack
architecture does not imply a speed penalty for emulation on register-based architectures when
using a JIT compiler. In the face of the code-verified JVM architecture, it makes no difference to
a JIT compiler whether it gets named imaginary registers or imaginary stack positions that must
be allocated to the target architecture's registers. In fact, code verification makes the JVM
different from a classic stack architecture whose efficient emulation with a JIT compiler is more
complicated and typically carried out by a slower interpreter.

Code verification also ensures that arbitrary bit patterns cannot get used as an address. Memory
protection is achieved without the need for a memory management unit (MMU). Thus, JVM is
an efficient way of getting memory protection on simple architectures that lack an MMU. This is
analogous to managed code in Microsoft's .NET Common Language Runtime, and conceptually
similar to capability architectures such as the Plessey 250, and IBM System/38.

Bytecode instructions
Main article: Java bytecode
The JVM has instructions for the following groups of tasks:

• Load and store

• Arithmetic
• Type conversion
• Object creation and manipulation
• Operand stack management (push / pop)
• Control transfer (branching)
• Method invocation and return
• Throwing exceptions
• Monitor-based concurrency

The aim is binary compatibility. Each particular host operating system needs its own
implementation of the JVM and runtime. These JVMs interpret the bytecode semantically the
same way, but the actual implementation may be different. More complex than just emulating
bytecode is compatibly and efficiently implementing the Java core API that must be mapped to
each host operating system.

Secure execution of remote code

A virtual machine architecture allows very fine-grained control over the actions that code within
the machine is permitted to take. This is designed to allow safe execution of untrusted code from
remote sources, a model used by Java applets. Applets run within a VM incorporated into a
user's browser, executing code downloaded from a remote HTTP server. The remote code runs in
a restricted "sandbox", which is designed to protect the user from misbehaving or malicious
code. Publishers can purchase a certificate with which to digitally sign applets as "safe", giving
them permission to ask the user to break out of the sandbox and access the local file system,
clipboard

C to bytecode compilers
From the point of view of a compiler, the Java Virtual Machine is just another processor with an
instruction set, Java bytecode, for which code can be generated. The JVM was originally
designed to execute programs written in the Java language. However, the JVM provides an
execution environment in the form of a bytecode instruction set and a runtime system that is
general enough that it can be used as the target for compilers of other languages.

Because of its close association with the Java language, the JVM performs the strict runtime
checks mandated by the Java specification. That requires C to bytecode compilers to provide
their own "lax machine abstraction", for instance producing compiled code that uses a Java array
to represent main memory (so pointers can be compiled to integers), and linking the C library to
a centralized Java class that emulates system calls. Most or all of the compilers listed below use a
similar approach.

Several C to bytecode compilers exist:

 • NestedVM translates C to MIPS machine language first before converting to Java
bytecode.
• Cybil works similarly to NestedVM but targets J2ME devices.
• LLJVM compiles C to LLVM IR, which is then translated to JVM bytecode.
• C2J is also GCC-based, but it produces intermediary Java source code before generating
bytecode.[7] Supports the full ANSI C runtime.
• Axiomatic Multi-Platform C supports full ANSI C 1989, SWT, and J2ME CDC 1.1 for
mobile devices.
• Java Backend for GCC, possibly the oldest project of its kind, was developed at The
University of Queensland in 1999.
• Javum is an attempt to port the full GNU environment to the JVM, and includes one of
the above compilers packaged with additional utilities.
• egcs-jvm appears to be an inactive project.

Compilers targeting Java bytecode have been written for other programming languages,
including Ada and COBOL.

Licensing
Starting with J2SE 5.0, changes to the JVM specification have been developed under the Java
Community Process as JSR 924.[8] As of 2006, changes to specification to support changes
proposed to the class file format (JSR 202[9]) are being done as a maintenance release of JSR 924.
The specification for the JVM is published in book form,[10] known as "blue book". The preface
states:

We intend that this specification should sufficiently document the Java Virtual Machine to make
possible compatible clean-room implementations. Sun provides tests that verify the proper
operation of implementations of the Java Virtual Machine.

Sun's JVM is called HotSpot. Clean-room Java implementations include Kaffe, IBM J9 and
Dalvik. Sun retains control over the Java trademark, which it uses to certify implementation
suites as fully compatible with Sun's specification.

Heap
The Java Virtual Machine heap is the area of memory used by the JVM (and specifically
HotSpot) for dynamic memory allocation.[11] The heap is split up into "generations":

• The young generation stores short-lived objects that are created and immediately garbage
collected.
• Objects that persist longer are moved to the old generation (also called the tenured
generation).
• The permanent generation (or permgen) is used for class definitions and associated
metadata.[12][13]
Originally there was no permanent generation, and objects and classes were stored together in
the same area. But as class unloading occurs much more rarely than objects are collected,
moving class structures to a specific area allows significant performance improvements.[12]