Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site turtlevax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!decwrl!spar!turtlevax!ken From: ken@turtlevax.UUCP (Ken Turkowski) Newsgroups: net.micro.68k,net.arch Subject: Re: RISC Message-ID: <794@turtlevax.UUCP> Date: Wed, 26-Jun-85 16:53:37 EDT Article-I.D.: turtleva.794 Posted: Wed Jun 26 16:53:37 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 28-Jun-85 00:41:51 EDT References: <639@vax2.fluke.UUCP> <2743@nsc.UUCP> <576@terak.UUCP> <5690@utzoo.UUCP> <1109@peora.UUCP> <5716@utzoo.UUCP> Reply-To: ken@turtlevax.UUCP (Ken Turkowski) Organization: CADLINC, Inc. @ Menlo Park, CA Lines: 27 Xref: watmath net.micro.68k:969 net.arch:1491 Summary: >>> Also, multiplies are actually fairly infrequent operations in most programs. >> >> That is, if "most programs" don't use multidimensional arrays... > >Except in a few specific environments, most programs indeed do not use >multidimensional arrays. Depending on what your product is, you may not need multiplication at all. If the end product is a UN*X machine, most UN*X utilities do not need multiplications. However, if you are running any engineering or scientific applications, the time devoted to multiplication is considerable, and may even dominate execution time if there is no hardware support for it. Saving the status register is an infrequent operation; why not do multiple conditional branches instead? Virtually no application programs need it at all. The operating system just needs it to switch contexts, which is a task done infrequently, and takes so much time as it is... :-) -- Ken Turkowski @ CADLINC, Menlo Park, CA UUCP: {amd,decwrl,hplabs,nsc,seismo,spar}!turtlevax!ken ARPA: turtlevax!ken@DECWRL.ARPA ***** Suppport your local number cruncher: join PIFOM! ***** ***** (Programmers In Favor Of Multiplication) *****