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From: shepherd@euroies.UUCP (Roger Shepherd INMOS)
Newsgroups: net.arch,net.lang
Subject: Re: C as an aid writing assembler
Message-ID: <316@euroies.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 7-Jun-86 06:33:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: euroies.316
Posted: Sat Jun  7 06:33:34 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 9-Jun-86 01:15:51 EDT
References: <201@pyuxv.UUCP> <3700003@uiucdcsp> <132@vaxb.calgary.UUCP> <1193@terak.UUCP> <438@ccird1.UUCP>
Organization: University College Dublin
Lines: 28
Xref: watmath net.arch:3394 net.lang:2472

In article <438@ccird1.UUCP> Rex Ballard writes:
> All High level languages do is attempt to organize the
> macros and subroutines that might otherwise be written in
> assembler.  They also provide some convenient and well
> standardized procedures and parameter passing conventions.

I disagree with view. A high level language should be more than a glorified
macro assembler. It is possible to design a high level language so that
it actually has a clean, coherent and useful semantics. It can then be used
as a way of describing algorithms mathematically. Such langauges can even 
be compiled!

Of course, very few existing HLLs have such a semantics. However, I have been
useing one that does and one which compiles effeciently onto a processor. 
Furthermore, its mathematical semantics is useful and COST-EFFECTIVE. One
of the projects which I have been involved with is the production of a 
HLL coded version of the IEEE Floating Point standard. Out initial efforts
at writing and testing said package were very labourious and insecure. 
We tried testing the package by comparing it with what were believed to be
correct implementations. This lead us to find an error in a currently
available floating point chip! The adoption of formal mathematical methods
(to which our HLL is suseptable) means that a correct version was produced
in a few weeks.

-- 
Roger Shepherd, INMOS Ltd, WHITEFRIARS, LEWINS MEAD, BRISTOL, UK
USENET: ...!euroies!shepherd
PHONE: +44 272 290861