5 ms·

I think assembly is probably a pretty bad choice for a RISC-V emulator. It's not portable, a nightmare to maintain, and not even as fast as binary translation.

by timhh 1y ago

I think assembly is probably a pretty bad choice for a RISC-V emulator. It's not portable, a nightmare to maintain, and not even as fast as binary translation. What kind of performance do you get? I guess it would be a great way to learn about the differences between x86 and RISC-V though!

sylware 1y ago
I am not looking for performance (it will run natively on rv64 hardware), I am looking to protect the code against computer language syntax/compiler planned obsolescence (usually cycles of 5-10 years). Have a look a little bit below in the comments where I give a reference to another one, written by the creator of ffmpeg and q-emu.
- timhh 1y ago
  I'm pretty sure Rust is going to outlast x86! C definitely will.
- jcranmer 1y ago
  Honestly, assembly language bitrots far faster than other programming languages. In my lifetime, the only thing that really comes close to qualifying as "compiler language syntax/compiler planned obsolescence" is Python 2 to Python 3. In contrast, with x86 alone, there's three separate generations of assembly language to go through in that same timeframe.
  - timhh 1y ago
    Python still doesn't do very well on backwards compatibility & bitrot, even after 3. They're constantly deprecating and removing things. https://docs.python.org/3.12/deprecations/index.html https://docs.python.org/3.12/deprecations/index.html This obviously improves Python, but also it means you absolutely shouldn't choose Python if you are looking for a low maintenance language.
  - sylware 1y ago
    Cycles of the planned obsolescence here is long, 5/10 years. Shorter for c++ and similar, than C.
    - jcranmer 1y ago
      Look, I work on compilers, and I have no idea what you're even trying to refer with "planned obsolescence" here. And 5/10 years is a very short time in compiler development planning! Prototypeless-functions in C were deprecated for longer than some committee members were alive before they removed from the standard, and they will remain supported in C compilers probably for longer than I myself will be alive.
      - sylware 1y ago
        feature creeps.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]

by timhh 1y ago

sylware 1y ago

I am not looking for performance (it will run natively on rv64 hardware), I am looking to protect the code against computer language syntax/compiler planned obsolescence (usually cycles of 5-10 years). Have a look a little bit below in the comments where I give a reference to another one, written by the creator of ffmpeg and q-emu.

timhh 1y ago
I'm pretty sure Rust is going to outlast x86! C definitely will.
jcranmer 1y ago
Honestly, assembly language bitrots far faster than other programming languages. In my lifetime, the only thing that really comes close to qualifying as "compiler language syntax/compiler planned obsolescence" is Python 2 to Python 3. In contrast, with x86 alone, there's three separate generations of assembly language to go through in that same timeframe.
- timhh 1y ago
  Python still doesn't do very well on backwards compatibility & bitrot, even after 3. They're constantly deprecating and removing things. https://docs.python.org/3.12/deprecations/index.html https://docs.python.org/3.12/deprecations/index.html This obviously improves Python, but also it means you absolutely shouldn't choose Python if you are looking for a low maintenance language.
- sylware 1y ago
  Cycles of the planned obsolescence here is long, 5/10 years. Shorter for c++ and similar, than C.
  - jcranmer 1y ago
    Look, I work on compilers, and I have no idea what you're even trying to refer with "planned obsolescence" here. And 5/10 years is a very short time in compiler development planning! Prototypeless-functions in C were deprecated for longer than some committee members were alive before they removed from the standard, and they will remain supported in C compilers probably for longer than I myself will be alive.
    - sylware 1y ago
      feature creeps.
deleted 1y ago
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