Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!rutgers!mcnc!thorin!unc!ohbuchi From: ohbuchi@unc.cs.unc.edu (Ryutarou Ohbuchi) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: Re: "General-purpose" architectures and symbolic languages Summary: If going for commercial, use stock processors. Message-ID: <6926@thorin.cs.unc.edu> Date: 22 Feb 89 21:59:13 GMT References: <28113@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <17832@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> Sender: news@thorin.cs.unc.edu Reply-To: ohbuchi@unc.UUCP (Ryutarou Ohbuchi) Organization: University Of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Lines: 31 There are several discussion about special architectures for symbolic languages, such as lisp and Prolog. I used to think that Lisp specific architecture is the way to go. The same for Prolog. This is probably true *IF* you are talking about prototype/research architectures. But, if you are going to sell software/hardeare product for/using symbolic languages, using stock processors seems to be the way to go. Designing a CPU, memory system, etc. and O/S, compiler, interpreter, environment takes awful a lot of time and money. And, when they are ready, the companies like MIPS, Motorola, (may be Intel, now with N10) has far more powerful processors with cutting edge technologies. So, if your software product in symbolic language is to live more than a couple of years, pick a stock hardware that seems to live long and prosper, as well as stay competitive in the future ("scalable" architecture, as SUN calls ?), and make one for it. Now, afterward, everytime they comes up with faster processor, port old compiler of yours, with constant improvements. If you are building from scratch every time, you can not fine tune your stuff. May be it is even better to compile into the source language of one of those honed compilers (such as MIPSco's C), not bothering the machine language. You can take advantage of their optimization... (Not yet, probably....) ============================================================================== Any opinion expressed here is my own. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ryutarou Ohbuchi "Life's rock." "Climb now, work later." ohbuchi@cs.unc.edu Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ==============================================================================