microcode, compilers, and supercomputer architecture

From: Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com>
Date: Mon Apr 5 18:14:55 1999

Tony wrote:
> Ah, but that's the point. A compiler _can't_ know what you always want in
> otherwise unused microcode fields. It can make sensible guesses, but you
> need a way to override them, IMHO.

Of course. And a properly designed source language would allow you to do
precisely that.

>> The dividing line between assemblers and compilers has always been somewhat
>
> I think I'd say an assembler has a one-to-one correspondence between
> source and object instructions, a compiler doesn't.

OK. In that case, I have never seen an assembler for the MIPS family. They
are all compilers.
Received on Mon Apr 05 1999 - 18:14:55 BST