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From: grr@cbm.UUCP (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: net.arch
Subject: Re: VAX polyd instruction
Message-ID: <31@cbm.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 16-Mar-86 01:42:15 EST
Article-I.D.: cbm.31
Posted: Sun Mar 16 01:42:15 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 19-Mar-86 04:10:34 EST
References: <759@harvard.UUCP> <5100026@ccvaxa>
Organization: Commodore Engineering, West Chester, PA
Lines: 15

A point that people seem to miss is that an instruction like polyd can
be optimized on different models of the CPU such that you tune the design
for different applications/performance levels.  It's much harder to make
changes that will make 37 arbitrary software polynomial evaluation routines
all run faster.

Anyhow, why beat on the poor little vaxen?  They are but pale shadows compared
to a real *C*ISC like a Burroughs B6700.  Kind of interesting when you review
the old claims about Burroughs architecture being designed for HLL's - what
percentage of the instructions and whatnot did their compiler writers manage
to use?
-- 
George Robbins - now working with,	uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|caip}!cbm!grr
but no way officially representing	arpa: cbm!grr@seismo.css.GOV
Commodore, Engineering Department	fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)