On Sep 20, 2005, at 11:25 AM, Robbie Carlton wrote:

> Hi.
> I'd like to read the ruby source (that is, the source that when  
> compiled,
> yields the ruby interpreter). I have them, and I've had a look, but  
> I just
> get overwhelmed. I've never read a big c program before, and I was  
> wondering
> if anyone had any advice on where to start, or if there has been any
> documentation?
> Sorry it's a bit OT
> thanks
>
> robbie
>

It depends on what you want to get out of reading the source. Do you  
want to understand some particular aspect of Ruby? Or do you just  
want to understand what it does, from the moment you invoke the  
interpreter?

If you just want an overall understanding of the flow of the  
interpreter, I'd recommend starting with main. Then, with grep at  
your side, step through the function and the functions it calls.

- Jamis