Re: How do you bitwise operations in Ada '83 and '95

[Robert A Duff <bobduff@shell01.TheWorld.com>]

"Jeffrey R. Carter" <spam.not.jrcarter@acm.not.spam.org> writes:

> "The algorithm is the same and the same numbers are produced" = "works
> the same". Performance may differ, but behavior is the same.

Since we're arguing about terminology...  ;-)

I'd say the "semantics" are the same, but the "behavior" is different.
To me, "behavior" includes anything observable.  I can observe how
long a program takes to run using a stopwatch.  Of course, I'm sure
we all realize that the semantics, as defined by the RM, does not
say anything about the time this program takes (since it contains
no delay statements).  This distinction between "semantics" and
"behavior" is mentioned in AARM-1.1.2(39.c) (which I wrote sometime
around 1991).

>... Since
> performance is a function of many things in addition to the SW, only
> behavior is a meaningful comparison.

A factor of 3 difference in speed is "meaningful" in my view!

Especially since we're talking about a language intended for real-time
use.

>... No doubt there is a
> platform/OS/compiler combination such that the unpacked version would
> run faster than the packed version does on your machine.

No doubt.

- Bob