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From: eachus@spectre.mitre.org (Robert I. Eachus)
Subject: Re: What's the best language to start with? [was: Re: Should I learn
 C or Pascal?]
Date: 1996/09/06
Message-ID: <EACHUS.96Sep5200334@spectre.mitre.org>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 178766681
references: <01bb8df1$2e19d420$87ee6fce@timpent.airshields.com>
organization: The Mitre Corp., Bedford, MA.
newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.lang.c++,comp.unix.programmer,comp.lang.ada
Date: 1996-09-06T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


In article <slrn52tn5u.8d.mdw@excessus.demon.co.uk> mdw@excessus.demon.co.uk (Mark Wooding) writes:

  > The One True View is that sequence of instructions; all else is an
  > illusion.  Maybe it's a helpful illusion, but illusion it is
  > nonetheless.

    Sorry, this is completely false.  On most modern processors which
typically have multiple independent pipelines, your One True View is
at best a helpful illusion.  Go get a SPARC, PA-RISC, or PowerPC
reference manual and read it. (You have to sign a non-disclosure
agreement to get the same level of detail about a Pentium.)  In all
cases, the illusion that there is such a thing as a processor state is
only true in some cases of traps or signals--and even then it is not
all that well defined.  Assembler on a Z80 chip might correspond to
some One True View, but for all modern chips architecture manuals
sections on assembly should only be read by compiler vendors.  (And
they need to read it VERY carefully, but that is a different
discussion.)

--

					Robert I. Eachus

with Standard_Disclaimer;
use  Standard_Disclaimer;
function Message (Text: in Clever_Ideas) return Better_Ideas is...