Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: May too many register variables hurt? (was Re: Novice question.)
Message-ID: <1990Nov21.172159.7018@zoo.toronto.edu>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <1990Nov14.010511.7241@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <965@demott.COM> <11476@j.cc.purdue.edu> <967@mwtech.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 17:21:59 GMT

In article <967@mwtech.UUCP> martin@mwtech.UUCP (Martin Weitzel) writes:
>So we can assume that register variables are mostly for software which
>may eventually be ported to some unknown ancient compiler that produces
>code for some unknown ancient hardware with very few registers...

Unfortunately, such compilers are by no means unknown, and the hardware in
question often has a useful number of registers.  For example, if you want
a modern compiler from Sun, you have to pay extra, so most people have
their old one, in which register variables most assuredly are important.
-- 
"I don't *want* to be normal!"         | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
"Not to worry."                        |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu   utzoo!henry