Jitter is a "translating" VM -- a generic term for the different species
of Just-In-Time VMs. In Squeak's case Jitter translates from the
standard bytecode set to its own threaded code set - combining some
common sequences of bytecode instructions into single instructions along
the way. Threaded code was chosen to try to get significant performance
gains while maintaining portability across architectures.

-- Dwight

Richard L. Peskin wrote:
> 
> I've asked this before but never got an answer. Just what is "Jitter" and
> how does it differ from the "default" interpreter?
> thanks,
> --dick peskin
> PS: If this is too elementary an issue, and not appropriate for the list, I
> would appreciate a private email answer.
> 
> =================================
> R. L. Peskin,  Rutgers Univ. ; <peskin at caip.rutgers.edu>;
> <http://www.caip.rutgers.edu/~peskin>
> VT Phone (802) 824-4558  NJ Phone (732) 445-4208
> "The corporate culture is concerned less with Occam's razor than his
> aftershave lotion."