GraalVMs

GraalVM is a high-performance, polyglot virtual machine developed by Oracle Labs. It extends the Java Virtual Machine ecosystem by providing a universal runtime that can execute code written in multiple languages within a single process and can optionally produce native executables through ahead-of-time compilation. GraalVM is available in Community and Enterprise editions and runs on major desktop and server platforms.

At its core, GraalVM includes the Graal just-in-time compiler and the Truffle language framework. These components enable high-performance interpreters for dynamic languages and provide a unified runtime that supports interoperability across languages in a single JVM instance.

Supported languages include Graal.js for JavaScript, GraalPython for Python, GraalRuby for Ruby, and GraalR for R, along with Java and other JVM languages such as Kotlin and Scala. Inter-language interoperation is exposed through a polyglot API that allows code in one language to create objects and invoke functions in another.

A key feature is Native Image, an ahead-of-time compiler that can produce a standalone native executable from a Java program. Native Image reduces startup time and memory usage but requires static analysis of reflection and dynamic features.

GraalVM is used to run polyglot microservices, serverless workloads, and performance-sensitive applications that benefit from fast startup and efficient cross-language calls. The Community Edition is provided under an open-source license, while the Enterprise Edition offers commercial features and additional optimizations.