Bytekoodit

Bytekoodit, often translated as bytecode, are an intermediate representation of computer programs. They are not directly executable by a computer's central processing unit (CPU) like machine code, but rather by a virtual machine or interpreter. This makes bytecode a portable and platform-independent format. When a program is compiled from a high-level language like Java or Python, it is often converted into bytecode first.

The advantage of bytecode lies in its portability. A single bytecode file can be executed on any system that has a compatible virtual machine installed. This eliminates the need to recompile the source code for every different operating system or hardware architecture. The virtual machine then translates the bytecode into the specific machine code instructions for the underlying hardware.

Bytecode also offers a layer of security and abstraction. It can be more compact than source code, and the virtual machine can enforce security policies on the code it executes, preventing malicious operations. This intermediate step is crucial for technologies like the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR), enabling their "write once, run anywhere" philosophy. While not as fast as native machine code, the performance of bytecode execution has improved significantly with advancements in just-in-time (JIT) compilation, where frequently used bytecode instructions are compiled into native machine code during runtime for better speed.