*Result*: Generation of Virtual Machine Code at Startup

*Performance-critical components of virtual machines are often implemented in assembly language. Traditionally, this code is compiled with an assembler and linked statically with the rest of the system. Generating this code at startup time has significant engineering advantages over the conventional approach: The generated machine code is much safer, easier to maintain, and has better performance. The virtual machine is easier to build and more portable. Introduction Ideally, a virtual machine (VM) is written entirely in a high-level language (e.g., C++ or Java) in order to be machine-independent and easily portable. For performance reasons however, many VMs make direct use of machine code. In the following we look at the architectural implications caused by the direct use of machine code. In particular we are concerned about static VM code that is written in assembly language. We will refer to this code as VM machine code. We will refer to all other VM code as VM high-level code. Thi.*