Michael, I agree that this is probably more useful in the long-term. Thank you for adding the detail.
Cheers, Chris On Tue, Sep 4, 2018, 21:08 Michael Jones <michael.jo...@gmail.com> wrote: > I might tell students step by step: > > machine code is understood and executed by a machine. > -> the intel instruction to increment a register is decoded and executed > by the CPU's hardware. > > virtual code is understood and executed by a program that pretends to be > some virtual CPU. > -> a Java VM might run on an intel CPU and understand and execute Java > virtual machine instructions. > > -> a Java VM might run on an intel VM that actually runs on an ARM CPU... > -> ...like a Russian matryoshka doll, there can be any number of outer VMs > before the innermost real CPU. > > operating systems provide protection, resource allocation, and services. > > most languages offer programs at least some operating system like services > via a runtime service layer > -> in C, this was initially "crt0" the thin c runtime > -> in Go, the service layer is richer, offering thread management and > goroutine multiplexing, garbage collection, and more. > > the Go runtime is written in Go mostly and uses C or assembler to connect > to the host operating system. > the Go runtime is linked with the developer's Go code, and the two of them > are constitute the output of go build or go install > > > > On Tue, Sep 4, 2018 at 5:15 PM Christopher Nielsen <m4dh4t...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Hi Pablo, >> >> Yes, that sounds like a reasonable differentiation for students. Of >> course, it is more complex than that, but it's a good first principles >> introduction. >> >> Cheers, >> Chris >> >> >> On Tue, Sep 4, 2018, 16:57 Pablo Rozas Larraondo < >> p.rozas.larrao...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Thanks for the answers. I asked this question because I'm preparing some >>> tutorials to explain Go to students and I'm thinking about potential >>> questions and discussions. >>> >>> If I understand it correctly we could say then that Go's runtime has >>> things in common with a VM's runtime (I'm thinking mostly in Java's) such >>> as GC, goroutine (thread) scheduling, etc. However, Go's runtime cannot be >>> considered a VM because it does not compile code to an intermediate >>> language, it executes compiled native code instead. >>> >>> Cheers, >>> Pablo >>> >>> >>> >>> On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 3:01:52 AM UTC+10, Jake Montgomery >>> wrote: >>>> >>>> There are a lot of differences, and for the answer to be complete, you >>>> would need to specify which language you wanted to compare it to. But on a >>>> really simple level, thwd's answer is more or less correct. A VM language >>>> is usually compiled into an instruction set for that VM. The VM then >>>> provides a lot of "special sauce." Go is (usually) compiled directly into >>>> machine code to be executed directly on the target system. >>>> >>>> One consequence of this is that the executable can be run without >>>> having any other software installed on the machine. It also means that the >>>> code for the stuff you inquired about such as the garbage collector, >>>> goroutine scheduling and stack management, is all present in the single >>>> executable compiled by go. >>>> >>>> As for learning more, it depends somewhat on what your experience level >>>> is, and why you want to know. If you are relatively new to programming, I >>>> would recommend just using go for a while, without worrying too much about >>>> the "magic." If you have a strong background already, you could start >>>> learning about the stuff you mentioned. Garbage collection would be an >>>> interesting place to start. I don't know of any one resource, but there are >>>> a number of interesting videos (gophercon, ect) by principal architects on >>>> the subject. Keep in mind that all these things are constantly evolving, so >>>> any information you get may not apply to the latest version of the >>>> language. >>>> >>>> Good luck. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at 10:50:03 AM UTC-4, thwd wrote: >>>>> >>>>> A virtual machine has its own instruction set. Go compiles to machine >>>>> code for a given target (which could be a virtual machine). >>>>> >>>>> On Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at 12:27:49 PM UTC+2, Pablo Rozas >>>>> Larraondo wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> The Go documentation provides some explanation about the difference >>>>>> between Go’s runtime and a virtual machine here: >>>>>> >>>>>> https://golang.org/doc/faq#runtime >>>>>> >>>>>> Does anyone can recommend a good place to learn more about this? I’d >>>>>> like to better understand how Go’s garbage collector, goroutine >>>>>> scheduling >>>>>> and stack management are handled by the runtime and how it is different >>>>>> from a virtual machine. >>>>>> >>>>>> Thanks, >>>>>> Pablo >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "golang-nuts" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to golang-nuts+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "golang-nuts" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to golang-nuts+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > > -- > > *Michael T. jonesmichael.jo...@gmail.com <michael.jo...@gmail.com>* > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "golang-nuts" group. 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