Title
Maxine: An approachable virtual machine for, and in, java
Abstract
A highly productive platform accelerates the production of research results. The design of a Virtual Machine (VM) written in the Java™ programming language can be simplified through exploitation of interfaces, type and memory safety, automated memory management (garbage collection), exception handling, and reflection. Moreover, modern Java IDEs offer time-saving features such as refactoring, auto-completion, and code navigation. Finally, Java annotations enable compiler extensions for low-level “systems programming” while retaining IDE compatibility. These techniques collectively make complex system software more “approachable” than has been typical in the past. The Maxine VM, a metacircular Java VM implementation, has aggressively used these features since its inception. A co-designed companion tool, the Maxine Inspector, offers integrated debugging and visualization of all aspects of the VM's runtime state. The Inspector's implementation exploits advanced Java language features, embodies intimate knowledge of the VM's design, and even reuses a significant amount of VM code directly. These characteristics make Maxine a highly approachable VM research platform and a productive basis for research and teaching.
Year
DOI
Venue
2013
10.1145/2400682.2400689
TACO
Keywords
Field
DocType
java annotation,maxine inspector,maxine vm,approachable vm research platform,approachable virtual machine,research result,metacircular java vm implementation,modern java ides,vm code,automated memory management,java language feature,debugging,java
System programming,Memory safety,Programming language,Virtual machine,Java annotation,Computer science,Exception handling,Parallel computing,Compiler,Real-time computing,Garbage collection,Java
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
9
4
1544-3566
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
38
1.48
18
Authors
6
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Christian Wimmer11127.03
Michael Haupt2382.49
Michael L. Van De Vanter318718.58
Mick Jordan411413.50
Laurent Daynès517222.44
Douglas Simon6552.70