From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,c95a73ec6ed5f174 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: kilgallen@eisner.decus.org (Larry Kilgallen) Subject: Re: Floating point problem Date: 1997/03/28 Message-ID: <1997Mar28.095005.1@eisner>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 229027775 X-Nntp-Posting-Host: eisner.decus.org References: <199703271518_MC2-1360-15BE@compuserve.com> X-Nntp-Posting-User: KILGALLEN X-Trace: 859560614/14659 Organization: LJK Software Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1997-03-28T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: In article , dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar) writes: > Larry Kilgallen wrote > on the subject of a floating-point coprocessor being needed for use > of the GNAT compiler: > >>That is too bad. I had hoped GNAT might be useful for deployment. >>Just to make sure we are on the same wavelength, my concern is >>entirely with what happens at runtime with generated programs. >>For running the compiler I can buy (actually already have) some >>appropriate machines. > > Actually I think there is no big problem in using GNAT in an environment > in which floating-point needs to be simulated. It's not a big task to > provide for emulating floating-point. We didn't do it yet, because > we have not encountered a customer interested in such a product > (interested means more than just saying on CLA that you are interested!) Personally I don't have much need for floating point on machines without hardware floating point. My only concern is that generated code fail in a highly predictable fashion if the environment is not correct in such a major fashion as this. If my program makes no explicit calls to floating point and the runtime library is going to fail in the absence of floating point, I would think that automatic detection would be in order. Considering that the Ada software environment is one where the type of the argument must match the the formal argument more closely than in any other language, I would expect the match between the hardware environment and the required hardware environment would also be carefully checked on a non-optional basis. If the Ada approach is that runtime machine environment checking is to be entirely manual, I guess the community is still too centered around the military project model rather than the model of providing "shrink-wrapped" software. Obviously this is only a problem where the operating system does not defend the program against lack of hardware support. Larry Kilgallen