InvokeDynamic

From APIDesign

Implementing different languages on top of HotSpot virtual machine is of different complexity. The most problematic thing is to properly and effectively dispatch methods calls. Not every languages uses the Java rules. Some support type conversions, implicit arguments. Some can dynamically alter the existing dispatch target or strategies. More about that in an excellent summary Bytecodes meet Combinators.

To address all these different needs the new invokeDynamic bytecode operand does not hardcode the actual invocation, but delegates it software controllable MethodHandles. What is a method handle? A pointer to method of some signature (for example plus would take two ints and return their sum as an int) and an object - a receiver to call the method on. However this is nothing else than a closure.

The proposed improvements to the HotSpot virtual machine may help the JDK to support different languages, but first and foremost they open the door to effective implementation of Closures.