Xref: utzoo comp.arch:5879 comp.software-eng:726
Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!steinmetz!davidsen
From: davidsen@steinmetz.ge.com (William E. Davidsen Jr)
Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: using (ugh!  yetch!) assembler
Message-ID: <11719@steinmetz.ge.com>
Date: 3 Aug 88 14:59:38 GMT
References: <60859@sun.uucp% <474@m3.mfci.UUCP% <2926@utastro.UUCP% <37014@linus.UUCP% <9763@eddie.MIT.EDU% <37247@linus.UUCP% <1148@anasaz.UUCP> <1988Aug2.231433.25760@utzoo.uucp>
Reply-To: davidsen@crdos1.UUCP (bill davidsen)
Organization: General Electric CRD, Schenectady, NY
Lines: 17


  One of the claimed advantages of assembler is that you can't get
burned by changes in the compiler causing bad code. Unfortunately
assemblers do generate bad code, too, on occasion. One example was the
GMAP assembler for the GE600. Certain instructions mush be in odd
locations, such as RPD, and in some cases that was not forced. I think
it was if the RPD was the result of the expansion of a macro or
something, but it was 20+ years ago.

  The Intel assembler for the 80386 still recognizes several bit
load/store instructions which have been removed from the chip. I doubt
that anyone outside of Intel ever used them, but unknown instructions
really should be flagged.
-- 
	bill davidsen		(wedu@ge-crd.arpa)
  {uunet | philabs | seismo}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen
"Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me