3 ms·

More competition means more innovation and lower prices. The compiler abstracts the instruction set for most people.

• klelatti 6y ago
  I'm old enough to remember when there was a lot of ISA competition. Trouble was each ISA had no longevity, you were dependent on one vendor typically and choosing an ISA was pot luck. I don't think it's reasonable to expect compiler writers to solve any fragmentation issues. As I said I like RISC-V and think it's laudable. We just need to recognise the downsides and not get too carried away.
  • d_tr 6y ago
    It is definitely a must to try and find downsides and weigh them, but even with RISC-V thrown into the mix, the situation will be far from what it was 25 - 35 years ago, and in addition the tools are much more advanced. Modern compilers can already deal with several permutations of ISA extensions. Of course, there are limits to everything, so having everyone and his grandma creating his own extension will be messy / ugly...
    • klelatti 6y ago
      Very much agree!