Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!umd5!purdue!i.cc.purdue.edu!j.cc.purdue.edu!pur-ee!uiucdcs!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!ccvaxa!aglew
From: aglew@ccvaxa.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: conditional branches
Message-ID: <28200115@ccvaxa>
Date: 29 Feb 88 20:53:00 GMT
References: <191@telesoft.UUCP>
Lines: 15
Nf-ID: #R:telesoft.UUCP:191:ccvaxa:28200115:000:642
Nf-From: ccvaxa.UUCP!aglew    Feb 29 14:53:00 1988


>]If both operands are positive, a simple bit-for-bit
>]comparison is sufficient, analogous to the way that C programs compare
>]strings.
>
>However, to do the bit-for-bit comparison in parallel (most C programs
>compare strings one byte at a time), you need a structure that looks
>_remarkably_ like a carry chain. In fact, the structure's just as
>"fancy" as the carry chain in a subtractor, because it is functionally
>identical to the carry chain in a subtractor. Remember that the
>comparison of the high-order bits has priority over the comparison of
>low-order bits....
>
>Craig Hansen

Thanks, Craig, I was beginning to get worried.