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Path: utzoo!decvax!cca!ima!compilers
From: compilers@ima.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.compilers
Subject: re: compiling techniques
Message-ID: <136300035@ima.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 8-Jan-86 11:35:00 EST
Article-I.D.: ima.136300035
Posted: Wed Jan  8 11:35:00 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 9-Jan-86 04:15:06 EST
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Approved: compilers@ima.uucp
Nf-ID: #N:ima:136300035:000:856
Nf-From: ima!compilers    Jan  8 11:35:00 1986


[from ]

Has anybody seen the paper on "data descriptors" by Holt and Cordy?
It comes with the distribution tape for Concurrent Euclid (from the
University of Toronto).  I don't know offhand if it's been published
in any other form.

It describes a uniform internal representation for data objects
(eg. constants, variables, records, addresses, etc).  Since the representation
is uniform, it makes life a lot simpler and makes all sorts of optimizations
managable.  For example, the Concurrent Euclid compiler (which uses
data descriptors) can easily detect when the target of an assignment
appears in the right hand side and emit better code in such cases.

From what little I've read about Graham-Glanville code generation,
I'd swear that it would benefit by incorporating data descriptors into
it's grammars.

Paul Tarvydas
{ihnp4,etc.}!utcsri!tarvydas