MagLev (software)

MagLev
	File:MagLev logo.gif
Developer(s)	GemTalk Systems
Initial release	2008; 15 years ago
Stable release	1.2.0 Alpha 4 / May 17, 2013
Written in	Smalltalk, Ruby
Operating system	Cross-platform: Solaris, AIX, Linux, Mac OS X
Platform	GemStone/S
Type	Ruby programming language interpreter
License	MIT, GPL, others
Website	maglev.github.com

MagLev is an alternative implementation of the Ruby programming language built on the GemStone/S virtual machine from GemTalk Systems. Much of Maglev was set out to be written in Ruby as much as possible, resulting in some collaboration with the Rubinius project. As of the first beta release, the project runs RubyGems 1.3.5 natively, with support for C and Smalltalk extensions. MagLev has a distinct VM architecture that allows it to share code and data between runtimes and execution cycles through a Ruby API.^[2]

Architecture

Maglev runs inside an image like Smalltalk, offering transparent object persistence^[3]^{[failed verification]}^[4] to Ruby objects and classes. Object persistence is based on ACID transactions that allow multiple running instances to see a shared object graph. Maglev uses a process-based concurrency model, mapping Ruby threads to Smalltalk Processes^[5]^{[self-published source?]}, which are scheduled in the VM as green threads. Using MagLev should yield performance increases when using Ruby, along with allowing Ruby processes over multiple machines to use the same objects at the same time.^[6]

Installation

MagLev is installed with RVM, using the following code snippets, copied directly from the maglev github.^[7]

rvm install maglev
rvm use maglev

The status can be checked using

$ maglev status

Ruby Compatibility

Maglev targets Ruby 1.8.7 and runs a significant number of RubySpec. It supports several C extensions including Nokogiri, JSON and bcrypt.

Gemstone/S Resources

GemStoneS 64 bit 3.1.x Documentation, July 3, 2012, retrieved July 29, 2012

References

^ https://raw.github.com/MagLev/maglev/master/Licenses/README.txt^{[bare URL plain text file]}
^ https://www.igvita.com/2010/01/15/distributed-ruby-with-the-maglev-vm/
^ "Programming Guide for GemStone/S 64 Bit Version 1" (PDF), VMware, July 2012, retrieved July 29, 2012
^ "MagLev – Object Persistence with Ruby and Smalltalk" (PDF), Bachelor thesis, Hasso Plattner Institute, July 1, 2013, retrieved February 22, 2014
^ Phoenix, Evan (October 14, 2011), "Ruby, Concurrency, and You", Engine Yard Blog, retrieved July 29, 2012
^ "MagLev Alpha Released: A New, Scalable Ruby Implementation".
^ "Get Started with MagLev".

External links

Fernandez, Obie (May 30, 2008), MagLev is Gemstone/S for Ruby, Huge News, retrieved July 29, 2012
Taft, Darryl K. (June 6, 2008), "MagLev Rocks the Ruby House", eWeek, retrieved July 29, 2012
Grigorik, Ilya (January 15, 2010), Distributed Ruby with the MagLev VM, retrieved July 29, 2012
Schuster, Werner (November 15, 2011), "NoSQL OODB with Smalltalk-based Ruby VM: MagLev 1.0 Released", InfoQ, retrieved July 29, 2012

This free and open-source software article is a stub. You can help Justapedia by expanding it.

[1] ttps://raw.github.com/MagLev/maglev/master/Licenses/README.txt^{[bare URL plain text file]}

[2] ttps://www.igvita.com/2010/01/15/distributed-ruby-with-the-maglev-vm/

[3] "Programming Guide for GemStone/S 64 Bit Version 1" (PDF), VMware, July 2012, retrieved July 29, 2012

[4] "MagLev – Object Persistence with Ruby and Smalltalk" (PDF), Bachelor thesis, Hasso Plattner Institute, July 1, 2013, retrieved February 22, 2014

[5] Phoenix, Evan (October 14, 2011), "Ruby, Concurrency, and You", Engine Yard Blog, retrieved July 29, 2012

[6] "MagLev Alpha Released: A New, Scalable Ruby Implementation".

[7] "Get Started with MagLev".

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