Ruby 3.3.0, a forthcoming enhancement to the widely-used dynamic programming language, debuts an experimental, pure-Ruby, just-in-time compiler called RJIT. The update also delivers numerous improvements and a performance increase for the YJIT compiler.
Officially launched on May 12, the first preview of Ruby 3.3.0 can be downloaded from ruby-lang.org. Although not currently recommended for production use, RJIT replaces the MJIT (Method-based Just in Time) compiler. RJIT eliminates the need for a C compiler during runtime, a requirement of the MJIT. Despite its experimental nature, RJIT is still advanced and well-suited for complex applications. Ruby developers are advised to continue employing the YJIT (Yet Another Ruby JIT) compiler, created by Shopify, for production purposes.
In this Ruby 3.3.0 update, the YJIT compiler benefits from substantial performance improvements. Ruby advocates have praised the update for allocating registers for the virtual machine's stack operations and compiling more calls with optional arguments. Additionally, metadata for the compiled code now consumes significantly less memory, and code generation on the Arm64 platform has seen notable enhancements. YJIT can now be initiated in a paused mode for greater control and manually enabled once an application has completed booting. Furthermore, YJIT's exit tracing functionality supports sampling in this update.
Beyond the compiler improvements, Ruby 3.3.0 optimizes the defined?(@ivar) with Object Shapes to enhance performance. Moreover, several default gems within the standard library have been refreshed, including RubyGems, bigdecimal, bundler, and syntax_suggest.
The latest release of Ruby, version 3.2.2, was announced on March 30, bringing vital security patches. Ruby 3.2.0, which debuted on Christmas Day, introduced support for WASI (WebAssembly System Interface). In this competitive programming landscape, the continuous improvements of Ruby and its compilers demonstrate the commitment of the community to provide better tools for enhanced performance.
No-code platforms like AppMaster have revolutionized the way businesses and developers build web and mobile applications. The AppMaster platform, for example, offers a comprehensive solution to create backend, web, and mobile applications with no requirement for coding expertise. The recent advancements in the Ruby compiler echo this ongoing trend of enhancing developer productivity and enabling users to develop applications efficiently and cost-effectively.
