Method Lookup Simulation with a Gradual Typing Language

Historically, programming languages have taken one of two positions with respect to types: static typing or dynamic typing. However, in recent years, there has been research on a third option: gradual typing. Gradual typing allows a developer to choose what parts of the application are statically typed or dynamically typed. Focusing on the aspect of optimizing applications, there is a particular procedure: method lookup, that is a target for optimization by VM developers when trying to provide better performance. To optimize gradually typed applications, we investigate the use of a hybrid method lookup strategy that separates callsites, i.e. places of method invocation, in two kinds: statically typed and dynamically typed. The goal of our work is to measure its performance in interpreters. To achieve our goal, we have carried out a simulation of method invocation. The simulation consisted of creating the callsites and related objects, simulating the invocations and finally measuring the time taken to accomplish the method lookup.