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Concept
Just-in-time compilation
Summary
In computing, just-in-time (JIT) compilation (also dynamic translation or run-time compilations) is compilation (of computer code) during execution of a program (at run time) rather than before execution. This may consist of source code translation but is more commonly bytecode translation to machine code, which is then executed directly. A system implementing a JIT compiler typically continuously analyses the code being executed and identifies parts of the code where the speedup gained from compilation or recompilation would outweigh the overhead of compiling that code.
JIT compilation is a combination of the two traditional approaches to translation to machine code—ahead-of-time compilation (AOT), and interpretation—and combines some advantages and drawbacks of both. Roughly, JIT compilation combines the speed of compiled code with the flexibility of interpretation, with the overhead of an interpreter and the additional overhead of compiling and linking (not just interpreting). JIT compilation is a form of dynamic compilation, and allows adaptive optimization such as dynamic recompilation and microarchitecture-specific speedups. Interpretation and JIT compilation are particularly suited for dynamic programming languages, as the runtime system can handle late-bound data types and enforce security guarantees.
The earliest published JIT compiler is generally attributed to work on LISP by John McCarthy in 1960. In his seminal paper Recursive functions of symbolic expressions and their computation by machine, Part I, he mentions functions that are translated during runtime, thereby sparing the need to save the compiler output to punch cards (although this would be more accurately known as a "Compile and go system"). Another early example was by Ken Thompson, who in 1968 gave one of the first applications of regular expressions, here for pattern matching in the text editor QED. For speed, Thompson implemented regular expression matching by JITing to IBM 7094 code on the Compatible Time-Sharing System.
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