5 ms·
Pretty neat but doesn't seem to be making it to the Real World(tm) despite several attempts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Register_window https://en.wikipedia
by zimpenfish 7y ago
Pretty neat but doesn't seem to be making it to the Real World(tm) despite several attempts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Register_window https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Register_window
- chalst 7y agoDecent link, thanks. It doesn't surprise me that having more visible registers and doing a good job of register allocation in the compiler is a better strategy (i.e., both more efficient and more flexible), but doing so means you are not so close to the metal. From the point of view of an efficiency feature that doesn't ask for complexity in the compiler, I see some appeal to register windows.
- JoshTriplett 7y agoIt's not just that. If you have a huge internal register file and register renaming, along with a few other tricks, then it's at least as efficient (and potentially more efficient) to just push and pop the registers that actually get used.
- throwaway_pdp09 7y agoIs 'efficient' what you want though? For embedded, yes. For maximum speed where you are willing to blow large power use, you can be much faster but it will cost you efficiency, badly (think Xeons). Without quantifying what you're trying to do, 'efficient' is only a metric not a target.
- JoshTriplett 7y agoI'm suggesting that a large register file and register renaming is likely to be the better alternative by many different metrics, yes.
- throwaway_pdp09 7y agoApologies, I misread you.