Bytecode

Noun · Development

Definitions

  1. An intermediate binary format designed for efficient execution by a virtual machine rather than a physical CPU. More compact and faster to interpret than source code, but portable across architectures. Java compiles to JVM bytecode, Python to .pyc files, C# to CIL, and Lua to its own bytecode format.

    In plain English: A compact, portable code format that sits between human-readable source code and machine-specific instructions.

    Example: "Java compiles to bytecode that runs on any JVM — 'write once, run anywhere' works because the bytecode is platform-independent."

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