Why is Java faster when using a JIT vs. compiling to machine code?

Question

I have heard that Java must use a JIT to be fast. This makes perfect sense when comparing to interpretation, but why can\'t someone make an ahead-of-time compiler that gener

Answer 1

I think the fact that the official Java compiler is a JIT compiler is a large part of this. How much time has been spent optimizing the JVM vs. a machine code compiler for Java?