Partial evaluation of single execution methods

1 . A method comprising:

building a native image from a build image compiled from source code;

executing, at image build time, a single execution method of the build image to update an image heap of the native image, wherein the single execution method is executed with a single execution for a native instance;

identifying, in the native image, the single execution method as partially evaluated at the image build time, wherein execution of the single execution method is halted to save a current state of an instantiation of the build image during image build time and the native instance resumes execution of the single execution method at runtime using the current state; and

storing the image heap to the native image built from the build image.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

initializing, at runtime, a runtime heap from the image heap for the native image.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

wherein the single execution of the single execution method is performed during one or more of the image build time and runtime.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

executing the single execution method as part of a class, of a set of classes, wherein initialization of the class at the image build time is conditioned upon initialization of a different class at the image build time of the set of classes.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

executing the single execution method, wherein the single execution method is a class initializer of a class.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

executing, for the single execution, the single execution method once without a subsequent execution.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying a class, comprising the single execution method, as partially initialized at image build time after the execution of the single execution method encounters an unresolvable dependency.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying a class, comprising the single execution method, as initialized at image build time after allocating one or more objects to the image heap.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

executing a remaining portion of the single execution method at runtime using the image heap.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

unrolling a loop as part of executing the single execution method.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the build image compiled from the source code, wherein the source code comprises a class definition; and

processing the build image, comprising the single execution method, to generate the native image, comprising the image heap.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

executing the native image using the image heap, wherein the native image corresponds to an operating system and a hardware architecture.

13 . A system comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one memory coupled to the processor; and

an application executing on the processor and configured for:

building a native image from a build image compiled from source code;

executing, at image build time, a single execution method of the build image to update an image heap of the native image, wherein the single execution method is executed with a single execution for a native instance;

identifying, in the native image, the single execution method as partially evaluated at the image build time, wherein execution of the single execution method is halted to save a current state of an instantiation of the build image during image build time and the native instance resumes execution of the single execution method at runtime using the current state; and

storing the image heap to the native image built from the build image.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the application is further configured for:

initializing, at runtime, a runtime heap from the image heap for the native image.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the application is further configured for:

wherein the single execution of the single execution method is performed during one or more of the image build time and runtime.

16 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the application is further configured for:

executing the single execution method as part of a class, of a set of classes, wherein initialization of the class at the image build time is conditioned upon initialization of a different class at the image build time of the set of classes.

17 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the application is further configured for:

executing the single execution method, wherein the single execution method is a class initializer of a class.

18 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the application is further configured for:

executing, for the single execution, the single execution method once without a subsequent execution.

19 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the application is further configured for:

identifying a class, comprising the single execution method, as partially initialized at image build time after the execution of the single execution method encounters an unresolvable dependency.

20 . A method comprising:

receiving a native image, wherein the native image is generated by:

building the native image from a build image compiled from source code;

executing, at image build time, a single execution method of the build image to update an image heap of the native image, wherein the single execution method is executed with a single execution for a native instance;

identifying, in the native image, the single execution method as partially evaluated at the image build time, wherein execution of the single execution method is halted to save a current state of an instantiation of the build image during image build time and the native instance resumes execution of the single execution method at runtime using the current state; and

storing the image heap to the native image built from the build image;

initializing, at runtime, a runtime heap from the image heap for the native image; and

executing the native image as the native instance.