[virtmach] Definition a virtual machine ?

Laurent Martelli martelli@iie.cnam.fr
16 Nov 1999 18:25:43 +0100


>>>>> "James" == James Powell <james@advancedsw.com> writes:

  James> John Morrison writes:
  >> Hi All;
  >> 
  >> The Short Version:
  >> 
  >> Can anybody point me at information, specifications, or
  >> implementations for virtual machines that enable OS-level
  >> programs to be written/run?

  James> I think that the Mach microkernel at least partially solves
  James> this problem.

  James> It isn't really a virtual machine as Mach has no instruction
  James> set, only a C API.

How would you define a virtual machine ?

I'd say that any API can be considered a virtual machine. Having
byte-coded instructions is just an implementation issue of the VM
after all. 

-- 
Laurent Martelli
martelli@iie.cnam.fr