From: Mathieu Bouchard <matju@...>
Date: 2001-11-01T09:04:39+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:24042] Re: I want a *really* small Ruby interpreter


On Thu, 1 Nov 2001, Christian Ericsson wrote:
> If only the basic OOL features, basic I/O functions (to read and write a
> file), functions for serial communication (COM-ports) support, basic print
> functions, etc is needed. Would it be possible to strip the Ruby interpreter
> heavily to ensure that it will compile under DOS using the tiny memory
> model?

If the "ruby" executable is ~550k in Linux and the DOS one is half the
size (a lower bound) then you still have to cut by a factor of 4 before
even considering the Small model.

If you let the compiler optimise for size instead of for speed, then maybe
you only have to cut by a factor of 3 or 3.5; so if you cut off Regexp,
and of course dln, signal, Process, then it's still too big.

It is probable that the parser is too big by itself. If you can reduce it
by a large factor using magic options of yacc, then you still can't manage
anything because the evaluator itself won't fit.

So I'd suggest using a small LISP or FORTH thingie. Running Ruby in the
Small model would be in the "groovy hack" category, let alone Tiny model.

________________________________________________________________
Mathieu Bouchard                   http://hostname.2y.net/~matju