Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!watdragon!dahlia!dtsteen
From: dtsteen@dahlia.waterloo.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Yet another 1.4 wish
Keywords: Stack size
Message-ID: <14218@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Date: 1 Jun 89 04:04:36 GMT
Sender: daemon@watdragon.waterloo.edu
Distribution: na
Lines: 26

I'm not sure if this has been hashed out here before, but for 1.4 I
would really like to see the stack size which a program requires encoded
right in the executable file.  I know ARP does this, but unfortunately,
a lot of programs don't get launched by ARP.

I think the stack size should be encoded in executable files in some
reasonably transparent way, and then the loader in ROM (LoadSeg?) should
detect it and cause the right amount of stack to be allocated.  No more
wasted memory because a program which needs 100 bytes of stack got
20K, and no more crashes because of 4K default stacks like mine.

Think about it!  You could have a HUNK_STACK just like a HUNK_BSS, and
the loader could allocate the stack along with the other memory areas.
The load could fail if not enough room for the stack was available.
Deeply recursive programs could allocate a minimal stack (like 100
bytes) and then set up the stack they really need themselves.  No
more StackSize entries in Mountlists!  And so on.  The key is that
this should be officially built into the system, not kludged on by a
third party.

So what is wrong with this picture?  I'd like to hear if 1.4 will address
this issue, and if not, what I've missed.

Markus Wandel
(519) 884-9669
Help eliminate space wasting .signat