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Is Factor compiled or interpreted?

April 26, 2017compiled Factor interpreted

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Is Factor compiled or interpreted?

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Both. Factor has an optimizing compiler (written in Factor), a minimal, non-optimizing JIT compiler (written in C), and a metacircular interpreter (written in Factor). For most code, the optimizing compiler is used. However, some code won't work in the optimizing compiler (see next section) and the non-optimizing compiler must be used. When single-stepping through code in the walker (Ctrl-4 in the UI), neither of these is suitable, so a metacircular interpreter is used for more flexibility. If, by this, you mean “Does Factor produce standalone executables,” the answer is no, but it can produce standalone packages; see the later question about deployment.