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From: rtp1@quads.uchicago.edu (raymond thomas pierrehumbert)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Scalar vs Superscalar
Message-ID: <1991May6.152803.5886@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: 6 May 91 15:28:03 GMT
Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (NewsMistress)
Organization: University of Chicago
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I have often heard the HP snake machines described as "not superscalar"
whereas the IBM RS/6000 are generally described as "superscalar."
What is it in the architectures of these two machines that supports
this distinction?  What are the consequences for the kinds of codes
that will run efficiently (particularly in terms of floating point
performance)?

(P.S.  could somebody email me a definition of "little endian" vs.
"big endian" ?  Are RS6000's, Suns and Macintoshes "big endian"?
What about i860?  Is it a property of the chip, or of the OS?)