3 ms·

Doesn't this almost say no to the con Neumann architecture? Is this a good idea? Isn't the point of having multiple files to simplify managment and reduce risk

• qayxc 6y ago
  The concepts are orthogonal. Von Neumann machines can be used without file systems and vice versa. Persistent state has its pros and cons - for me the ability to reset the machine's state is an important feature. For the author this doesn't seem to be the case. As for abandoning the concept of a file system, that's something that has been worked on for decades. Microsoft even wanted to include this as the main feature for Windows Vista, back in 2003 (dubbed "WinFS"). They basically wanted to replace traditional files with a single relational database backed by schemas for describing objects. This would've been a truly revolutionary concept, as it would've allowed for features like searching, sorting, grouping, and versioning of objects without any complex application-level code. Another advantage of such system would be the ability to exchange data between apps by just passing an id. All required meta-information would be available through the schema and the app could choose a view that suits its needs: providing the id of an audio file could result in the title and artist for a word processing program, the audio data for a music player, or the associated cover art in case of an image editing program. There are many options for replacing the concept of files and directories that are just as robust and provide extra features. The general architecture of the CPU is not affected by or related to this.