cramer@clem.UUCP (02/06/87)
In article <3034@gitpyr.gatech.EDU> thomps@gitpyr.gatech.EDU (Ken Thompson) writes: >I would not be at >all suprised if the MINIX compiler produces poorer code. My experience >with academic compiler projects and ACK (Amsterdam Compiler Kit) on >which the MINIX compiler is based would lead me to believe that efficiency >was probably not one of their top priorities. Dr. Tanenbaum stated that the code generator is OK, but not great. I think that he said that it is about average for the PC world. He claims that in general the ACK compilers produce very good code and cited the example of their 68020 compiler, which is significantly better than Motorola's own. The quality of the 8088 code generator is due to the fact that the student who wrote the code generator for the 8088 hated the Intel architecture (give that boy an A!) and didn't want to spend a lot of time on it. I imagine that someone will end up whacking on it, given the availability of cheap compiler source. Sam Cramer uucp: {cbosgd,decwrl,hplabs,seismo,ucbvax}!sun!cramer arpanet: cramer@sun.com