Perl 6, Perl 5, Python, Ruby, Lua, JavaScript, Java, C#, and many other languages use virtual machines as their execution environments. Instead of compiling directly to machine code, they rely on the presence of an ideal machine built specifically for the language – porting the language to a new architecture often means only porting that virtual machine.

Does that sound complicated? It's not. Some of the details of very efficient and effective virtual machines are, but the general ideas are simple.

This talk explains the important components of a virtual machine and how they fit together. Examples will come from the world of Perl 5, Parrot, and Perl 6, but the concepts apply to many languages and VMs.

You may never need to hack the guts of your favorite language, but understanding how they work can help you become a better programmer.

As always, the meeting will be followed by social hour at the LuckyLab.

speaker: Jonathan Leto

Come learn the basic things you need to know about Parrot Virtual Machine to start hacking on

1) Parrot VM itself 2) Languages built on top of Parrot, High Level Languages (HLLs) 3) Projects and Libraries that use Parrot

A short, down-to-earth introduction to the current state of Parrot will be followed by examples on how to hack on Parrot projects or how to start your own.

As always, the meeting will be followed by social hour at the Lucky Lab.

Learn how to set up your own Virtual Machine at home. Prerequisites: Must be familiar with basic networking and the Linux Mint command line. Feel free to bring your own computer.

Learn to set up and use a virtual machine.