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Date:	Mon, 4 Aug 2003 11:53:07 PDT7
From:	Peter Skye <pskye@peterskye.com >
Reply-To:	scoug-programming@scoug.com
To:	scoug-programming@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Programming: Re: Warpstock 2003 Presentation

Content Type: text/plain

Lynn H. Maxson wrote:
>
> While "faster, better, cheaper" makes good for
> comparison purposes it also represents an
> iterative goal we should have in improving software.

I agree that the iterative approach should be the expected norm; in
fact, only a demonic egotistical eccentric would dare to say that they
could write programs that were always bug-free and always designed
perfectly, and hence never required any "iterations".

> You make a strange argument, logically inconsistent,
> which I have to comment upon here. If the assembly
> language programmer knows that no sort field will exceed
> 16 characters, he can incorporate that in his code. The
> HLL programmer, having the same knowledge as the assembly
> programmer, can do it also. The difference lies in how
> that is communicated to the software tool.

If the HLL programmer has the same knowledge as the assembly language
programmer and writes using the best-fit optimizations for the specific
problem, then as far as I can tell there won't be any difference between
the set of statements written by each of them. Thus, there's no
differentiation between the HLL source and the assembly source. Thus,
your argument is stranger than mine is. :)))

But if the assembly guy writes a full sort routine without using a
library and the HLL guy sorts by using "CALL SORT p1,p2,...pn" then we
have a situation where the HLL code appears to be a higher level than
assembler but the desired optimization is impossible. Lynn, can you
show me some actual code for a hypothetical HLL sort routine written for
a specific case? I don't want a theoretical paragraph relegating a
concrete example to irrelevance; I want instead to see the concrete
example.

- Peter

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