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Path: utzoo!mnetor!yetti!geac!daveb
From: daveb@geac.UUCP (Brown)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: DEC C (was Re: "C" vrs ADA)
Message-ID: <1255@geac.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 27-Aug-87 08:34:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: geac.1255
Posted: Thu Aug 27 08:34:59 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 29-Aug-87 07:38:02 EDT
References: <1065@vu-vlsi.UUCP> <12513@clyde.ATT.COM> <203@trwrc.UUCP> <8454@utzoo.UUCP> <138@kesmai.COM>
Reply-To: daveb@geac.UUCP (Dave Collier-Brown)
Organization: The little blue rock next to that twinkly star.
Lines: 18

In article <138@kesmai.COM> dca@kesmai.COM (David C. Albrecht) writes:
>Well then if DEC is unenthusiastic about C the people responsible for unix
>(B&B) must be somnabulistic since the VAX C compiler beats the pants
>off of pcc.

  As it happens, the DEC Vax C compiler shares an intermediate language and
a back end with the PL/1 compiler (source: book by the implementors).
  Since the PL/1 compiler front end was a licenced copy of the Multics
one, the design of the intermediate language was quite competent
(especially for its era), and it is easy to write a globally
optimizing back end/code generator. 
  Which is exactly what they did...
  Dare I suggest this may have something to do with "volatile"?
-- 
 David Collier-Brown.                 {mnetor|yetti|utgpu}!geac!daveb
 Geac Computers International Inc.,   |  Computer Science loses its
 350 Steelcase Road,Markham, Ontario, |  memory (if not its mind)
 CANADA, L3R 1B3 (416) 475-0525 x3279 |  every 6 months.