Rakudo is a
Raku compiler
In computing, a compiler is a computer program that Translator (computing), translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primaril ...
targeting
MoarVM, and the
Java Virtual Machine
A Java virtual machine (JVM) is a virtual machine that enables a computer to run Java programs as well as programs written in other languages that are also compiled to Java bytecode. The JVM is detailed by a specification that formally descr ...
, that implements the Raku specification.
It is currently the only major Raku compiler in active
development
Development or developing may refer to:
Arts
*Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped
* Photographic development
*Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting
* Development hell, when a proje ...
.
Originally developed within the
Parrot
Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...
project, the Rakudo
source code repository
In version control systems, a repository is a data structure that stores metadata for a set of files or directory structure. Depending on whether the version control system in use is distributed, like Git or Mercurial, or centralized, like Subv ...
was
split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enter ...
from the project in February 2009 so that it could be developed independently, although there were still many dependencies at the time. Rakudo is
written
Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...
in
C, Raku, and the lightweight Raku subset NQP (Not Quite Perl).
Rakudo Perl #14 was released in February 2009,
codenamed ''Vienna'' after the
Perl mongers group that had sponsored one of its developers since April 2008. Subsequent releases have used codenames based on Perl mongers groups.
The first major release of a distribution of both compiler and modules (named "Rakudo *" or "Rakudo Star") was on July 29, 2010.
Name
The name "Rakudo" for the Raku compiler was first suggested by
Damian Conway
Damian Conway (born 5 October 1964 in Melbourne, Australia) is a computer scientist, a member of the Perl and Raku communities, a public speaker, and the author of several books. Until 2010, he was also an adjunct associate professor in the Fa ...
. "Rakudo" is short for "Rakuda-dō" (with a long 'o';
駱駝道
道 may refer to:
* Dao (political), an administrative division in China, Japan, or Korea
**Provinces of Korea, the primary administrative division of Korea since the mid Goryeo dynasty in the early 11th century
***Administrative divisions of North ...
), which is Japanese for "Way of the Camel". "Rakudo" (with a short 'o';
楽 土) also means "paradise" in Japanese.
The term "Rakudo" was also chosen to distinguish between the name of a language implementation ("Rakudo") from the name of the language specification ("Raku") – any implementation that passes the official test suite could call itself "Raku". There are currently several implementations at various levels of maturity, with only Rakudo implementing full Raku and NQP for Raku subset.
Books
References
External links
Rakudo website
{{Perl
Raku (programming language)
Software using the Artistic license