Using GNU Kawa to Port Perl to the Java Virtual Machine

The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is perhaps the most interesting aspect of
the Java programming environment.  Much attention has been placed on
porting non-Java languages to the JVM.  Such ports are useful since JVMs
are now embedded in hardware devices, as well as in software applications
such as web browsers.  In addition, well designed JVM ports can utilize
the JVM as a common object model for multiple languages, allowing larger
applications to easily be written in and scripted with multiple
programming languages.

GNU Kawa provides an infrastructure for porting non-Java languages to the
JVM.  Kawa also enables multiple programming languages to seamlessly and
dynamically interact together in a single application.  Thus, Kawa is a
powerful engine for providing scripting interfaces to the application
user.  Kawa is a free software system that is comparable to the
proprietary Microsoft .NET system.

This talk focuses on how Kawa is being used to port Perl to the JVM.  This
system, perljvm, massages the existing perl internal representation (IR)
into the Kawa system's more generalized IR.  Kawa's IR is presented, and
an example of a Perl program compiled to Kawa's IR is given.

Finally, this talk briefly introduces how other languages can use Kawa
both to achieve successful JVM ports, and to take advantage of the
language interoperability that Kawa provides.