Re: LLVM--Low Level Virtual Machine--and Ada

[Colin Paul Gloster <Colin_Paul_Gloster@ACM.org>]

On 2007-07-21, anon <anon@anon.org> wrote:

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|"The question should be. Should Ada be ported or is it a waste of time?                           |
|"                                                                                                 |
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What one does with one's time is not necessarily wasteful even if it
could instead be expended on something more worthwhile. It would be a
worse waste to simply stop now.

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|"The LLVM is based on RISC concept and the RISC is being replaced by                              |
| the ZISC aka (Zero Instruction Set Computer). The reason is that today                           |
| most newer computer systems are based on parallel cpus and artificial                            |
| neural networks. While RISC and CISC are based on a single processor                             |
| which came from the early days computers using time-slicing to                                   |
| emulate a parallel system.                                                                       |
|                                                                                                  |
| In today world parallel cpu are here and in the next few years should                            |
| replace all single cpu system and designs such as RISC and CISC."                                |
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So will Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) replace RISCs in the
meantime? Are Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs) obsolete because of
FPGAs? Do you dislike the way combinatorial loops are not an easy
accident with PLDs? Were RISCs up-to-date when Hennesy and Patterson
claimed to have invented the idea in the 1980's with a publication of
theirs cited in their book "Computer Architecture - A Quantitative
Approach", despite the claims of users of Microchip PICs that
Microchip invented RISCs (without the term RISC) in the 1970's? Should
sequential programs which achieve what is required of them be replaced?
I own a lot of video tapes. Many of them were bought after DVDs became
common. Should I have bought their alternatives on DVDs instead,
simply to spend more money for something which someone else thinks is
better?

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|" This                                                                                            |
| suggest that LLVM to be on the cuting edge, [..]"                                                |
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I do not expect the Ada to C part of LLVM to be even nearly as good as
Taft's Ada 95 to C with POSIX compiler, so how could it be cutting
edge? Do you criticise people for using GNAT instead of compilers
which perform better? I would rather have choices.

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|                                                                                                  |
|"[..]  We should have surpass both designed long                                                  |
| ago, but the companies that create the CPU are still operated by those                           |
| that think CISC [..] is the way to go.  It will be fun to watch                                  |
| those guys sell their stock as newer designs finally take hold.                                  |
|                                                                                                  |
|[..]"                                                                                             |
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Did you commend those of Intel who ceased Intel's production of the
CISC family of MCS51 processors for realizing that it is impure;
illogical; and out of date, or did you laugh at Intel for leaving what
is probably still the biggest market by volume of sales in the
computer industry and for disclosing the 8051 non-zero instruction set
which has been copied by many chip manufacturers?

C. P. G.