tim@amdcad.UUCP (02/03/87)
I picked up Dr. Tannenbaum's book at the Computer Literacy Store in Sunnyvale, CA (They've got a *slew* of them, now!), and have a question concerning the chosen library format. Basically (as far as I can tell), all non-executable, compiled code (i.e. separately compiled "object" modules and libraries) are stored in "Packed Assembly Language." In the book, Dr. Tannenbaum says that this was done to conserve space to allow single-floppy operation. However, I just cannot figure out how this format can conserve space over the actual object code stored in a standard object file format. For example: add AX,DX is a minimum of 8 bytes, while the object code for the equivalent instruction is only 2 bytes. Am I missing something? Tim Olson Advanced Micro Devices Sunnyvale, CA
philip@axis.UUCP (02/08/87)
In article <14576@amdcad.UUCP> tim@amdcad.UUCP writes: >Basically (as far as I can tell), all non-executable, >compiled code (i.e. separately compiled "object" modules and libraries) are >stored in "Packed Assembly Language." In the book, Dr. Tannenbaum says that >this was done to conserve space to allow single-floppy operation. However, >I just cannot figure out how this format can conserve space over the actual >object code stored in a standard object file format. For example: > add AX,DX is a minimum of 8 bytes, while the > object code for the equivalent instruction > is only 2 bytes. >Am I missing something? Yes you are. I think that it is actually explained somewhere in the book that there is NO LOADER, just a combined ASSEMBLER-LOADER. Thus all input to this beast has to be in assembler source format. Philip