4 ms·
On some archs (like POWER), backwards compat with legacy applications is a motivator. Here, well, I suspect the real primary motivation is "cuz we can!/it's co
by spijdar 6y ago
On some archs (like POWER), backwards compat with legacy applications is a motivator.
Here, well, I suspect the real primary motivation is "cuz we can!/it's cool!" and the novelty of doing it.
On POWER8/9 where we have both big and little endian, there are people who insist on using big endian with a near religious fervour. The best rationalization I've heard is it tends to break badly written code (little endian is more friendly to misaligned casts), but again, I suspect it's just cuz it's cool and just that much more "unusual".
- cptnapalm 6y agoYeah, this is a thing. I have an UltraSparc laptop and was excited when I discovered that a bug I had in a little program was endian related after finding a newsgroup post of a similar problem from about 20 years before.
- shadowofneptune 6y agoIf that's true we're not too far off from where the idea comes from: religious wars over which side you should start peeling a hard boiled egg.
- ncmncm 6y agoSoft boiled. Just sayin'
- mrlonglong 6y agoCrack the little end, you know it makes sense !