threaded code

1 definition found

threaded code - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  threaded code
  
     <programming> A technique for implementing virtual machine
     interpreters, introduced by J.R. Bell in 1973, where each
     op-code in the virtual machine instruction set is the
     address of some (lower level) code to perform the required
     operation.  This kind of virtual machine can be implemented
     efficiently in machine code on most processors by simply
     performing an indirect jump to the address which is the next
     instruction.
  
     Many Forth implementations use threaded code and nowadays
     some use the term "threading" for almost any technique used to
     implement Forth's virtual machine.
  
     (http://complang.tuwien.ac.at/forth/threaded-code.html).
  
     ["James R. Bell", "Threaded Code", CACM, 1973, 16, 6, pp
     370-372].
  
     ["An Architectural Trail to Threaded Code Systems", Kogge,
     P. M., IEEE Computer, March 1982].
  
     (1998-09-02)