COMBINED VERIFICATION AND COMPILATION OF BYTECODE
The present invention is a new method and apparatus to perform combined compilation and verification of platform independent bytecode instruction listings into optimized machine code. More specifically, the present invention creates a new method and apparatus in which bytecode compilation instructions are combined with bytecode verification instructions, producing optimized machine code on the target system in fewer programming steps than traditionally known. The new method, by combining the steps required for traditional bytecode verification and compilation, increases speed and applicability of platform independent bytecode instructions.
1 . A computer apparatus suitable for use in the combined compilation and verification of platform neutral bytecode instructions resulting in optimized machine code, comprising:
a central processing unit (CPU); a computer memory coupled to said CPU, said computer memory comprised of a computer readable medium;
a compilation-verification program embodied on said computer readable medium, said compilation-verification program comprising:
a first code segment that receives a bytecode listing; and
a second code segment that compiles said bytecode listing into machine code and during the process of compilation simultaneously verifies said bytecode listing is free of malicious and improper code.
2 . A computer apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said computer program further includes a third code segment that interprets and executes said machine code.
3 . A computer apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said second code segment evaluates said bytecode listing to detect improper data types and improper stack usage.
4 . A computer apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said second code segment evaluates said bytecode listing for complete compilation of said bytecode instructions into said machine code.
5 . A computer implemented method for facilitating combined compilation and verification of bytecode instructions resulting in machine code, said computer implemented method characterized in that compilation and verification of byte code are performed simultaneously.
6 . A computer implemented method as recited in claim 5 , wherein said bytecode instructions are platform neutral bytecode instructions.
7 . A computer implemented method as recited in claim 5 wherein said compilation procedure generates optimized machine code.
8 . A computer implemented method as recited in claim 5 wherein when said bytecode instructions cannot be verified, said compilation is not completed.
9 . A computer implemented method for combined verification and compilation of an object class file comprising:
receiving an object class file including at least one method; and for each method in said object class file, performing a simultaneous compilation and verification of said method.
10 . A computer implemented method as recited in claim 9 , wherein said at least one method includes platform neutral bytecode.
11 . A computer implemented method as recited in claim 10 , wherein said platform neutral bytecode is JAVA bytecode.
12 . A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for:
receiving a plurality of platform neutral bytecodes; and
simultaneously compiling and verifying said plurality of platform neutral bytecodes.
13 . A computer readable medium as recited in claim 12 , wherein said plurality of platform neutral bytecodes are arranged within at least one class.
14 . A computer readable medium as recited in claim 13 , wherein said simultaneous compiling and verifying is performed on each class individually.
15 . A computer readable medium as recited in claim 14 , wherein each class is comprised of methods, and said simultaneous compiling and verifying is performed on each method individually.