This book was written by those directly responsible for the design and implementation of the Java virtual machine, and is the complete and definitive specification for the technology. It is an essential reference for writers of compilers for the Java programming language and implementors of the Java virtual machine. This second edition specifies the newest version of the Java virtual machine and provides a fascinating view into the inner workings of the Java 2 platform.

In this book you will find comprehensive coverage of the class file format, the hardware, operating system, and implementation-independent binary format for compiled code. The authors fully describe the instruction set of the Java virtual machine. You will find an entire chapter of examples that demonstrate how to compile code written in the Java programming language into the instruction set of the Java virtual machine. In addition, the book presents a discussion on the vital topic of Java virtual machine threads and their interaction with memory.

All in all, this comprehensive, detailed, and methodical presentation provides the information necessary to implement your own fully compatible Java virtual machine.

Tim Lindholm, Distinguished Engineer in Java Software at Sun Microsystems, Inc., was an original member of the Java project at Sun. He was a key contributor to the Java programming language and remains the senior architect of the Java virtual machine and the Java 2 runtime environment. He is also the Technical Editor of The Java(TM) Series.