Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 (Fortune 01.1b1); site graffiti.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!ut-sally!ut-ngp!shell!graffiti!peter From: peter@graffiti.UUCP (Peter da Silva) Newsgroups: net.arch Subject: Re: 386 info Message-ID: <414@graffiti.UUCP> Date: Wed, 6-Nov-85 12:21:58 EST Article-I.D.: graffiti.414 Posted: Wed Nov 6 12:21:58 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 9-Nov-85 06:44:52 EST References: <965@mcnc.mcnc.UUCP> <2359@ukma.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: The Power Elite, Houston, TX Lines: 16 > also possible to use just about any register as an index register. (I > think SP is the only register that can't be used this way - it remains > almost exclusively as a stack pointer.) So it should be a lot easier > to write an optimizing compiler - the only thing is that to use use > these additional addressing options usually lengthens the instruction > by an extra byte. Yes, but indexing off the stack pointer is something compilers like to do: it's a very convenient way of accessing local storage. If you can't index off the SP you have to waste a general purpose register as a base register for these local variables... -- Name: Peter da Silva Graphic: `-_-' UUCP: ...!shell!{graffiti,baylor}!peter IAEF: ...!kitty!baylor!peter