>Markus,
>
>>Your statement is technically incorrect.
>
>>The CLR is not a runtime interpreter. Instead, the CLR performs JIT compilations on the code before it is executed. In other words: The IL code is compiled before it runs into something that is very similar to native code, except that it does not have to do things like memory management.
>
>Not knowing the very details of it, AFAIK, the CLR is a type of interpreter (just like VFP use the pcode interpreter). I understand that there is a difference in the aspects that when it is translating into a lower level code, but still it is a engine that translates the high level instructions into highly efficient low level library of functions.
>
>Walter,

Well, as per that definition, even a C++ or an Assembly compiler is an "interpreter" as it interprets regular code and then compiles it. But that is probably just a matter of defining the term.

What is important is that the technical aspect is very different. In VFP for instance, we create pcode and the VFP runtime than interprets that pcode to execute it. In .NET on the other hand, IL gets JIT compiled into machine code. From a compiler point of view, as well as runtime performance, this is a huge difference.

Markus