nonJVM

NonJVM is a term used in software development to refer to programming languages, tools, and runtimes that do not run on the Java Virtual Machine. It is often contrasted with JVM-based languages such as Java, Kotlin, Scala, and Groovy, and with environments like GraalVM that extend the JVM. The label is informal and covers a broad range of ecosystems including native-compiled languages, bytecode-based runtimes, and interpreter-based platforms.

Typical characteristics include the compilation model (ahead-of-time, just-in-time, or interpretation), memory management (manual vs garbage-collected), and performance profiles. NonJVM runtimes may compile to native machine code, generate platform-independent bytecode for their own VM, or execute within a platform runtime such as a browser or a system process. Interoperability with Java code can vary; some languages provide foreign function interfaces to native libraries, while others have bridging layers or no direct integration.

Common examples include C and C++ (native binaries), Go (native binaries), Rust (native binaries), Python and Ruby (interpreters), JavaScript (Node.js, browser engines), and Swift (native). Web technologies often target nonJVM environments as well. Some languages can target multiple backends, including WebAssembly, which further separates them from the JVM ecosystem.

Usage and considerations: developers choose nonJVM for predictable startup times, smaller footprint, system programming needs, or when native performance is critical. Portability, tooling maturity, and ecosystem size vary widely across nonJVM languages. Interoperation with Java can be achieved in specialized contexts but is not as universal as within the JVM ecosystem.