Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!mailrus!eecae!cps3xx!rang From: rang@cpsin3.cps.msu.edu (Anton Rang) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: Re: BENCHMARKS AND LIPS Message-ID: <1219@cps3xx.UUCP> Date: 2 Dec 88 03:02:29 GMT References: <1740MLWLG@CUNYVM> <746@quintus.UUCP> <595@mqcomp.oz> Sender: usenet@cps3xx.UUCP Reply-To: rang@cpswh.cps.msu.edu (Anton Rang) Organization: Michigan State University, Computer Science Dept. Lines: 32 In-reply-to: s8504867@mqcomp.oz's message of 30 Nov 88 08:16:28 GMT In article <595@mqcomp.oz>, John Gardner (s8504867@mqcomp.mq.oz) writes: >In article <746@quintus.UUCP> ok@quintus.UUCP (Richard A. O'Keefe) writes: >>In article <1740MLWLG@CUNYVM> MLWLG@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU writes: >>>THAT IS USED? >> >>Logical Inferences Per Second is a property of a _Prolog_ implementation, >> > >Come off the grass. That's like saying MIPS are a property of C >only. While it is nice to do benchmarks by only varying what you want to >compare, it is certainly valid to calculate LIPS using any theorem prover, >not just prolog. It's not valid to calculate and compare them using any theorem prover. The term "LIPS" as it is usually used refers to the internal workings of PROLOG (unification, etc.). While it would be possible to find LIPS with any theorem prover, the results couldn't be compared against PROLOG ones. The basic problem is the definition of a "logical inference". PROLOG has one; other languages would have others. MIPS is a property of a system, not a language, because you can always look at the system and count the number of instructions it's running! You can't look and just say "Oh, that's...346 logical inferences" for any given proof, because there are a very large number of ways to handle it. Even PROLOG people don't always agree on the LIPS count for a program. The "LIPS" term is misleading, but it *is* a property of PROLOG (at least, as it is currently used). +---------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ | Anton Rang (grad student) | "VMS Forever!" | "Do worry...be SAD!" | | Michigan State University | rang@cpswh.cps.msu.edu | | +---------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+