Re: [MacPerl] Perl Standalone on a CD-ROM

[Tim Endres <time@ice.com>]

On Thu, Oct 8 1998, Chris Nandor wrote:
> >In a nutshell I want to have Perl -- albeit limited-- run standalone on
> >a CD.  In this case I am looking for a non-OS specific port of Perl.
> 
> No such thing.  Perl is a program, and all programs must be
> platform-specific.  A Perl program itself is platform-specific, in that it
> needs perl to run.  A Java program needs a JVM or some such thing to run.
> Java and Perl programs are saved in a format these interpreters can read on
> any platform type.  But perl itself is a C program, which means it is
> compiled to machine code, which is different for every OS and every
> hardware platform.
> 
> If perl were rewritten in Java, then you might be on your way, but it
> isn't.  :-)

Of course, the fact that Perl is a program does not prevent creating a CD
that will fire up Perl on any platform. Obviously this is possible, since
game companies have been doing this for years. It is simply a complexity
that no one has had the justification to create.

On the other hand, a "non-OS-specific _port_ of Perl" is a different matter,
and that would require a cross-platform foundation, such as Java.

tim.
Tim Endres, ICE Engineering, Inc.
   mailto: time@ice.com    http://www.ice.com
   "Usenet - A slow moving self parody." -- Peter Honeyman


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