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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!minow
From: minow@decvax.UUCP (Martin Minow)
Newsgroups: net.lang
Subject: Re: Self-modifying code
Message-ID: <319@decvax.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 29-Dec-83 21:39:48 EST
Article-I.D.: decvax.319
Posted: Thu Dec 29 21:39:48 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 30-Dec-83 02:22:06 EST
References: <1096@mit-eddie.UUCP>
Organization: DEC UNIX Engineering Group
Lines: 26

Anyone wishing to pursue this topic should read Eckhouse and Morris's
book, Minicomputer Systems.  Bob Morris has come up with a number
of nifty self-modifying algorithms that do *VERY FAST* digital
signal processing on the PDP-11/70 (FFT and LPC).

He computes -- on the fly -- optimal multiply/shift algorithms
and builds code segments that execute the FFT inner loop.

Using this technique (which he has described in several publications,
especially ICASSP proceedings), the 11/70 can outperform many
dedicated signal processing systems.

He has recently devised similar algorithms for the TI TMS320 signal
processing micro.

Martin Minow
decvax!minow

PS: I think SNOBOL 4 allows self-modifying code.  Many years ago,
I remember seeing a program that read parameters, built a Fortran
(or somesuch) program accordingly, then submitted the fully-configured
program to the batch processor.  Doing something similar on Unix
(build the program, fork a compiler to build an executable image,
then fork the image and "call" it using a pipe) should be trivial.