JIT
/ˌdʒeɪ-aɪ-ˈtiː/
n. “Compiling code at the exact moment it becomes useful.”
JIT, short for just-in-time compilation, is a runtime compilation strategy where source code or intermediate bytecode is translated into machine code while the program is running. Instead of compiling everything up front, the system waits, observes what code is actually being executed, and then optimizes those hot paths on the fly.
AOT
/ˌeɪ-oʊ-ˈtiː/
n. “Compiling code before it ever reaches the user.”
AOT, short for ahead-of-time compilation, is a compilation strategy where source code is translated into optimized machine code before the program is run. This contrasts with JIT (just-in-time compilation), where code is compiled at runtime as it is needed.