Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!bbn!bbn.com!slackey
From: slackey@bbn.com (Stan Lackey)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Integer Multiply/Divide on Sparc
Message-ID: <50190@bbn.COM>
Date: 29 Dec 89 17:28:51 GMT
References: <84768@linus.UUCP> <8840004@hpfcso.HP.COM> <1804@l.cc.purdue.edu>
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Reply-To: slackey@BBN.COM (Stan Lackey)
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In article <1804@l.cc.purdue.edu> cik@l.cc.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) writes:
 bunch of stuff deleted ...
>I know that the gurus claim that this should not be so, but it is not
>unusual for me to think of modifications or even totally new ways of
>doing things which the compiler cannot unless those specific ways are
>put into the compiler.  If a machine does not have hardware square roots,
>one avoids square roots, as there are usually faster ways.

>One thing which might help is if there were a mailing list to discuss these
>ideas, and to collect the numerous operations efficient in hardware and
>expensive in software.  Those who know me will agree that I am not the
>person to run this.

>Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907

I agree.  I think that due to (at least) the worsening ratio of CPU
speeds to memory speeds, there will be changes in architecture trends
in the next generation or two.

I would like to be the maintainer of the proposed mailing list.
-Stan