Screenweaver applications have their application logic (back-end) stored in Neko byte-code files. Neko byte-code is executed in the Neko VM, similar to the way Java byte-code is executed in the Java run-time environment.
Neko byte-code is produced on compiling code that is written in the Neko language. Typically though, application logic will be programmed in the haXe programming language, which is translated to Neko code after which it gets compiled to Neko byte-code.
Why did we choose Neko/haXe as Screenweaver’s back-end technology?
Neko is a 0% fat, lean-and-mean run-time environment with a very small foot-print in size. The bare virtual machine is no bigger than a few 100 kilobytes.
The haXe programming language that can be used for creating Neko byte-code is a high-level programming language that allows for rapid development of application logics. The language is very similar to ECMA-Script, providing a low treshold for those new to the language. At the same time, the haXe programming language implements features that ECMA-Script misses out on:
Neko byte-code is platform independant. It can be executed on any platform for which the Neko VM is available. At time of writing, the Neko VM is available for Windows, OSX and Linux.
Although Neko comes with an extensive standard library for typical back-end operations like accessing the file-system, working with strings, XML, sockets and data-base access, any lacking functionality can easily be added by writing an extension to the virtual machine. This can be done in any language that is capable of producing C-ABI compatible dynamic link libraries.
Because the Neko VM and the haXe programming language are open source, they are freely available to anyone. Additionaly, any feature or functioning can be tailered to one’s specific needs, if so required.