Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!bu-cs!purdue!i.cc.purdue.edu!j.cc.purdue.edu!pur-ee!uiucdcs!uiucdcsp!gillies
From: gillies@uiucdcsp.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Knowing Machine Code
Message-ID: <104700032@uiucdcsp>
Date: 12 Jun 88 05:48:00 GMT
References: <13735@comp.vuw.ac.nz>
Lines: 19
Nf-ID: #R:comp.vuw.ac.nz:13735:uiucdcsp:104700032:000:895
Nf-From: uiucdcsp.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies    Jun 12 00:48:00 1988


Blindingly fast compilers are a pretty new idea.  I was genuinely shocked
to see brand XXX v2.15 compile at hundreds of lines per second.  I
even spent a few minutes setting up a ram disk to push the compiler to
1000 lines per second.  I'm supposed to know what's possible in computer
science, but these new "Turbo" compilers run at impossible speeds.

Perhaps we should redefine our notion of a World-class development
system to include two compilers: One, a blindingly fast
emit-NOPs-if-you-must compiler for prototyping.  Another would be a
slow, methodical "build" compiler for recomputing the world when
you're done with the final product.

These two goals are fundamentally opposed -- it probably makes more
sense to write a separate compiler than to try to melt both functions
into one big monstrousity.

Don Gillies {ihnp4!uiucdcs!gillies} U of Illinois
            {gillies@cs.uiuc.edu}