smart compilers

Dick Dunn rcd at opus.UUCP
Tue Dec 25 08:54:17 AEST 1984


>...It is usually necessary for optimizations to break certain obscure points
> that conform to the language definition, e.g. which order STATEMENTS are
> executed in so that code can be moved out of loops.  Many useful optimizations
> cannot be done when more than 99.9% of the language definition must be
> respected.

Or, rephrasing the above ">", sometimes you get:

	The optimization was a success, but the program died.

I can't see this is anything other than a conflict resulting from either a
bad (or simply incomplete) language definition or a broken compiler.  But
then I've always had trouble dealing with compromises between efficiency
and correctness.
-- 
Dick Dunn	{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd		(303)444-5710 x3086
   ...Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.



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