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From: rick@oresoft.UUCP (Rick Lahrson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: "kill"
Message-ID: <66@oresoft.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 8-Sep-87 10:20:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: oresoft.66
Posted: Tue Sep  8 10:20:14 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 10-Sep-87 02:06:20 EDT
References: <1708@amiga.amiga.UUCP> <581@sugar.UUCP> <935@unicus.UUCP>
Reply-To: rick@oresoft.UUCP (Rick Lahrson)
Organization: Oregon Software, Portland OR
Lines: 41
Keywords: memory fragmentation resource tracking
Summary: Resource tracking is not a compiler's job

In article <935@unicus.UUCP> sat@unicus.UUCP (S.A. Thurlow) writes:
>                             It is the application programmer's (or his
>compiler's) responsibility to make sure things are set up right for the
>kill to work.

...

>The resource allocations can be tracked by writing wrappers functions
>for the allocation routines, and hoping that everyone uses these
>wrappers.  Any ideas on how to enforce this?  I guess a really smart
>compiler could substitute rom calls with a call to the appropriate
>wrapper function.

Please!  It's not any compiler's responsibility, nor is it appropriate
for a compiler, to do things the programmer didn't ask for.  A compiler's
job is translating one language into another, maintaining semantic
equivalence.  If you want a "wrapper routine" called, call it.  The
compiler will translate the call to that routine just as happily as a
call to the rom (which is really a call to a wrapper routine anyway).

Resource tracking is properly the operating system's job.  I wish the
Amiga hadn't been so rushed to get to market that the planned operating
system couldn't be finished.  I'd love to see an operating system for
the Amiga that would live up to the quality that makes the Amiga such a
miracle.  But that's a huge changeover -- not that there couldn't be new
routine calls that handled resource tracking fairly transparently, but
a huge change due to all the existing structures that contain those
stupid, disgusting BPTR's.  (Now there's a job that a compiler SHOULD
be able to do -- generate code that relates to the target machine!)

I wonder how willing most developers would be to switch over to a new
operating system (in other words, convert all their programs) if the
new operating system was of such impeccable quality, integrity, and
elegance that it was loved for its beauty, like the rest of the Amiga.
I know I would.

-- 

Rick Lahrson  ...tektronix!oresoft!rick

Disclaimer:  If I ever speak for anyone but me, I'll warn you in advance.