Editing P-code machine (section)

==P-code versus machine code==

While a typical [[compiler]] model is aimed at translating a program code into [[machine code]], the idea of a P-code machine follows a two-stage approach involving translation into P-code and execution by [[Interpreter (computing)|interpreting]] or [[just-in-time compilation]] (JIT) through the P-code machine.

This separation makes it possible to detach the development of a P-code [[Interpreter (computing)|interpreter]] from the underlying machine code compiler, which has to consider machine-dependent behaviour in generating its [[bytecode]]. This way a P-code interpreter can also be implemented quicker, and the ability to interpret the code at runtime allows for additional [[Run-time checking|run-time checks]] which might not be similarly available in native code. Further, as P-code is based on an ideal virtual machine, a P-code program can often be smaller than the same program translated to machine code. Conversely, the two-step interpretation of a P-code-based program leads to a slower execution speed, though this can sometimes be addressed with [[just-in-time compilation]], and its simpler structure is easier to [[Reverse engineering|reverse-engineer]] than native code.