"Armin Roehrl" <armin / approximity.com> wrote in message news:7JD37.12224$u76.645913 / e420r-atl3.usenetserver.com... > Yes. gcc3.0 can even compile java classes into native machine code now. [gcj] > Look at: http://gcc.gnu.org/java/ It is interesting. How much of the GNU compiler infrastructure could be reused for a Ruby compiler? But a Ruby on Java should be as independent of a specific VM as possible. This includes the gcj compilers runtime. I.e. targeting gcj specifically would limit Ruby to that platform - or that is a risc at least. I think the primary objectives are speed and two-way Ruby to VM class library integration. Mikkel