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From: willc@iuvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.micro.68k
Subject: Re: Assembler vs C
Message-ID: <3500003@iuvax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 20-Apr-84 13:17:00 EST
Article-I.D.: iuvax.3500003
Posted: Fri Apr 20 13:17:00 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Apr-84 08:48:38 EST
References: <1593@burdvax.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:burdvax:-159300:iuvax:3500003:000:679
Nf-From: iuvax!willc    Apr 20 13:17:00 1984


I agree that there is very little need to program in assembly language
under Unix.  In our department, the systems programmers generally use C
and the faculty generally use languages such as Scheme (a dialect of Lisp).

I recently chose to build the kernel of a Scheme processor in Motorola
68000 assembly language rather than in C.  The kernel interprets a p-code,
so the assembly language code amounts to microcode for a hypothetical
machine.  For this application, which involves considerable bit-diddling
on specific hardware registers, I believe assembly language is easier to
work with than C.

Such applications are extremely rare.

				William Clinger
				willc!iuvax...