Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!ames!oliveb!pyramid!prls!mips!mash From: mash@mips.COM (John Mashey) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: Re: Software Distribution Message-ID: <3138@winchester.mips.COM> Date: 7 Sep 88 04:16:14 GMT References: <22778@amdcad.AMD.COM> <965@esunix.UUCP> <5642@june.cs.washington.edu> <848@sword.bellcore.com> Reply-To: mash@winchester.UUCP (John Mashey) Organization: MIPS Computer Systems, Sunnyvale, CA Lines: 39 In article <848@sword.bellcore.com> yba@sabre.bellcore.com (Mark Levine) writes: >In article <5642@june.cs.washington.edu> pardo@cs.washingtone.edu (David Keppel) writes: >>Yes, what we need is a high-level machine language that we can >>translate our programs into and then is sufficiently general that we >>can compile *that* efficiently into native machine code. ..... >There is an awful lot of good stuff on the shelf, but I think it stays >there as long as proprietary interests remain larger than portability >concerns. Given the recent movement toward UNIX OS standards, window >system standards, and ignoring ADA, perhaps it is time for some archaeology; >but, how serious is anyone's interest in a really portable machine oriented >high level language? 1) high-level machine language definitely != C (suggested sometime earlier in this sequence.) Not enough semantics. 2) one interesting possibility is Stanford's U-code, which Fred Chow's dissertation used to show a machine-independent optimizer for several machines (Stanford MIPS, 68K, others). 3) MIPSco took this, and extended as necessary as C was beefed up (volatile needs to get thru, etc), and PL/1, COBOL, and Ada were added. A few things in the optimizer got slightly machine-dependent in the process, although I don't think inextricably so. 4) As I understand it [correct me if wrong], the HP Precision compilers started from Stanford U-code also, and I assume was extended, too. It is NOT that unreasonable to have an intermediate code that is language-independent (covering at least some languages), and reasonably target-independent. This is a great boon to vendors who like to support highly-integrated compiler systems, and their customers who like them also. Whether or not it solves the other problems that started this discussion is yet to be known. -- -john mashey DISCLAIMER: UUCP: {ames,decwrl,prls,pyramid}!mips!mash OR mash@mips.com DDD: 408-991-0253 or 408-720-1700, x253 USPS: MIPS Computer Systems, 930 E. Arques, Sunnyvale, CA 94086