This compiler backend takes Perl source and generates a
platform-independent bytecode encapsulating code to load the
internal structures perl uses to run your program. When the
generated bytecode is loaded in, your program is ready to run,
reducing the time which perl would have taken to load and parse
your program into its internal semi-compiled form. That means that
compiling with this backend will not help improve the runtime
execution speed of your program but may improve the start-up time.
Depending on the environment in which your program runs this may
or may not be a help.
The resulting bytecode can be run with a special byteperl executable
or (for non-main programs) be loaded via the byteload_fh function
in the B module.
If there are any non-option arguments, they are taken to be names of
objects to be saved (probably doesn't work properly yet). Without
extra arguments, it saves the main program.
Leaves out code to fill in the pointers which link the internal syntax
tree together. They're not needed at run-time but leaving them out
will make it impossible to recompile or disassemble the resulting
program. It will also stop goto label statements from working.
Compile as a module rather than a standalone program. Currently this
just means that the bytecodes for initialising main_start,
main_root and curpad are omitted.
Note that assemble lives in the B subdirectory of your perl
library directory. The utility called perlcc may also be used to
help make use of this compiler.
