Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!pasteur!cory.Berkeley.EDU!navas
From: navas@cory.Berkeley.EDU (David C. Navas)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: 680x0 vs 80x86
Message-ID: <14252@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 24 Jun 91 23:06:43 GMT
References: <92@ryptyde.UUCP> <1991Jun23.152230.17393@Sugar.NeoSoft.com> <112@ryptyde.UUCP>
Sender: news@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU
Reply-To: navas@cory.Berkeley.EDU
Lines: 21

In article <112@ryptyde.UUCP> dant@ryptyde.UUCP (Daniel Tracy) writes:
>I was referring to the general-purpose address/data registers used in the 
>8086 line! You wouldn't call these general purpose?

Uh, what registers would those be?  cs:ip, es:di, ds:si, ss:[bp|sp] are
generally address pointers.  Of course, cs:ip is used, as is ss:sp.  If
you program in 'C', most likely bp is used as well.  This leaves you
with the address pairs es:di and ds:si.  What a bonanza...

Then you have your "data" registers -- ax, bx, cx, dx.  bx can be used as
a segment offset (I think), ax is required if your doing any mults/divs,
cx is useful for doing shifts, and that usually leaves me with dx.  Another
veritable bonanza...

It's an improvement over a 6502, maybe, but what register here would you
call general purpose?  I wouldn't call any of them general purpose.  The
closest thing would be 'bx'.

David Navas                                   navas@cory.berkeley.edu
	2.0 :: "You can't have your cake and eat it too."
Also try c186br@holden, c260-ay@ara and c184-ap@torus