Newsgroups: comp.arch
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: negative addresses
Message-ID: <1988May10.180715.1836@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <2393@uvacs.CS.VIRGINIA.EDU>
Date: Tue, 10 May 88 18:07:15 GMT

> ... I'm trying to remove unsigned
> arithmetic from WM, and as far as I can tell, the primary (only?) use
> of unsigned arithmetic is for address computations. Soooooo...

I've thought for a long time that unsigned arithmetic is basically a relic
of the 16-bit days, when the difference between 15 and 16 really mattered,
and that the difference between 31 and 32 is much less significant.  I don't
see any compelling need for unsigned arithmetic on a 32-bit machine with
31-bit addresses or signed addresses... except that several of the newer
programming languages, notably C, absolutely require it.
-- 
NASA is to spaceflight as            |  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
the Post Office is to mail.          | {ihnp4,decvax,uunet!mnetor}!utzoo!henry