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The problem is that we have designed ourselves into an architectural cul-de-sac when it comes to processors. We have fifty-plus years of evolution on programmin

The problem is that we have designed ourselves into an architectural cul-de-sac when it comes to processors. We have fifty-plus years of evolution on programming methodologies built on top of von Neumann architectures. Moore's Law has given us decades of exponential gain without significant challenge to that architecture, and now that Moore's Law is reaping diminishing returns in terms of compute performance we are in the situation where we'd have to go backward forty years on our programming model in order to take advantage of a superior (given today's technology) architecture. For example, FPGAs can in many cases outperform von Neumann machines by orders of magnitude in terms of compute performance and (more importantly) performance per watt. However, the programming model and ecosystem for FPGAs is worse than primitive. Something you could write in a couple hundred lines of C code could take months to get up and running on an FPGA. We need a way to transition from von Neumann computing to alternative architectures without starting over on computer science. Or, perhaps recent trends in neural networks will eliminate the need for that?

scroot 9y ago
Just this afternoon I finished reading David Harland's 1988 book "Rekursiv: Object-Oriented Computer Architecture". It describes a completely different way of designing machines at the low level that can support better programming environments at the high level. You might want to check it out. I believe we are going to see further balkanization between different operating systems / programming systems and computers based upon what they are use for. Cloud services will be the domain of what today we call "systems programmers" who work in compiled languages and care about speed. In contrast, we might now be able to get real "personal computers" running environments that teach their users how to peel back the layers and manipulate them — the long sought personal computing medium. This all could have happened back in the 80s, but we didn't have widespread or fast use of the Internet. Now it's different, and both of these types of systems can interop together in the blink of an eye because of it. Both will require completely new computing architectures.

scroot 9y ago

Just this afternoon I finished reading David Harland's 1988 book "Rekursiv: Object-Oriented Computer Architecture". It describes a completely different way of designing machines at the low level that can support better programming environments at the high level. You might want to check it out. I believe we are going to see further balkanization between different operating systems / programming systems and computers based upon what they are use for. Cloud services will be the domain of what today we call "systems programmers" who work in compiled languages and care about speed. In contrast, we might now be able to get real "personal computers" running environments that teach their users how to peel back the layers and manipulate them — the long sought personal computing medium. This all could have happened back in the 80s, but we didn't have widespread or fast use of the Internet. Now it's different, and both of these types of systems can interop together in the blink of an eye because of it. Both will require completely new computing architectures.