[comp.lang.c] DEC C

daveb@geac.UUCP (Brown) (08/27/87)

In article <138@kesmai.COM> dca@kesmai.COM (David C. Albrecht) writes:
>Well then if DEC is unenthusiastic about C the people responsible for unix
>(B&B) must be somnabulistic since the VAX C compiler beats the pants
>off of pcc.

  As it happens, the DEC Vax C compiler shares an intermediate language and
a back end with the PL/1 compiler (source: book by the implementors).
  Since the PL/1 compiler front end was a licenced copy of the Multics
one, the design of the intermediate language was quite competent
(especially for its era), and it is easy to write a globally
optimizing back end/code generator. 
  Which is exactly what they did...
  Dare I suggest this may have something to do with "volatile"?
-- 
 David Collier-Brown.                 {mnetor|yetti|utgpu}!geac!daveb
 Geac Computers International Inc.,   |  Computer Science loses its
 350 Steelcase Road,Markham, Ontario, |  memory (if not its mind)
 CANADA, L3R 1B3 (416) 475-0525 x3279 |  every 6 months.