PyGirl: Generating Whole-System VMs from High-Level Prototypes Using PyPy

Abstract. Virtual machines (VMs) emulating hardware devices are generally implemented in low-level languages for performance reasons. This results in unmaintainable systems that are dicult to understand. In this paper we report on our experience using the PyPy toolchain to improve the portability and reduce the complexity of whole-system VM implementations. As a case study we implement a VM prototype for a Nintendo Game Boy, called PyGirl, in which the high-level model is separated from low-level VM implementation issues. We shed light on the process of refactoring from a low-level VM implementation in Java to a high-level model in RPython. We show that our whole-system VM written with PyPy is signicantly less complex than standard implementations, without substantial loss in performance.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: TOOLS
• Authors: Camillo Bruni, Toon Verwaest
• Keywords: Low-level Vm Implementation, Programming Languages, TOOLS 2009, Vm Implementation, Whole-system Vm