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- Path: sparky!uunet!sun-barr!ames!agate!rsoft!mindlink!a684
- From: Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca (Nick Janow)
- Newsgroups: comp.arch
- Subject: Re: Scientists as Programmers (was Re: Small Language Wanted
- Message-ID: <14787@mindlink.bc.ca>
- Date: 2 Sep 92 05:51:33 GMT
- Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
- Distribution: world
- Lines: 21
-
- KGZXK@ASUACAD.BITNET (Zafer KADI) writes:
-
- > About having global variables or not and if making calls slows the program
- > and optimization: Yes it does. .... Do you want the program to be faster
- > or
- > clearly written for your own standards.
-
- Whether or not making lots of subroutine calls slows up a program depends on
- the hardware. It slows up CPUs designed for languages such as C or Fortran. It
- does not slow up CPUs designed for Forth, in which a program might have fewer
- than ten core words per call. These processors have minimal overhead for
- calls, taking one clock cycle to call, and zero cycles to return. These CPUs
- have a major effect on programming style: what constitute "good" and "bad"
- techniques.
-
- Read "Stack Computers, The New Wave", by Phillip Koopman Jr. for a good
- explanation of these CPUs and a different (better!) approach to programming.
-
- --
-
- Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca
-