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From: phipps@garth.UUCP (Clay Phipps)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Algol, and language design
Message-ID: <678@garth.UUCP>
Date: 10 Aug 90 22:12:59 GMT
References: <25630@cs.yale.edu> <58091@lanl.gov> <25767@nigel.udel.EDU> <2417@l.cc.purdue.edu>
Reply-To: phipps@garth.UUCP (Clay Phipps)
Organization: Intergraph APD, in semiarid Palo Alto, CA
Lines: 30

In article <2417@l.cc.purdue.edu>,
cik@l.cc.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) wrote:
>
>[...] I find the architectures simpler than the HLLs.  
>It is not true that Algol has all the primitive operators 
>for numerical calculation in its list of operators.  

Here's your opportunity to enlighten those of us more concerned with 
generating fast code for a large percentage of our customers than with
providing a complete set of primitive operators for numerical calculation.

What are those primitives, and what characteristics must they have ?

>It is true that it has enough that one can define any other, 
>but this is like saying that the way that multiplication should 
>be perforemed is by squaring the sum and the difference, subtracting,
>and shifting right two bits.

You mean repeated addition isn't adequate ?    :-)
Sometimes it is *faster*.
-- 
[The foregoing may or may not represent the position, if any, of my employer, ]
[ who is identified solely to allow the reader to account for personal biases.]
[Besides,  this was written and posted while waiting for a test run to finish.]
                                              
Clay Phipps 
Intergraph APD: 2400#4 Geng Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303; 415/852-2327
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