4 ms·

I really want to like QBE, but declaration blocks like this make it feel like 1970s Unix code more than a modern hackable piece of software: int t, x, r, r

I really want to like QBE, but declaration blocks like this make it feel like 1970s Unix code more than a modern hackable piece of software: int t, x, r, rf, rt, nr; bits rs; Ins *i, *i1; Mem *m; Ref *ra[4]; I think it deters some users by making it hard to read and understand the relatively subtle code in the 300 line function that follows. (Skill issue, I know)

norir 4mo ago
It is hard for me to fully trust a compiler backend that isn't self hosted. There is a discipline that self hosting imposes that would both improve the quality of their ir as well as the backend itself. A self hosted backend can always be updated to have performance meeting or exceeding the best that llvm or any other backend can offer.
IshKebab 4mo ago
Yeah that looks like they've prioritised code golfing a bit too much over code quality. Also using AT&T assembly syntax shows poor taste. Definitely 80s themed software.
orthoxerox 4mo ago
Yeah, I tried my hand at adding amd64_win support to QBE, but going through the very dense code was a slog. I kept refactoring and commenting it just to make heads or tails of it, but ultimately realized I would never be able to minify it back to something upstreamable. I applaud Scott Graham's perseverance and tenacity.
- s3graham 4mo ago
  Quentin took pity on me and let me upstream amd64_win with my lengthy variable names and including chatty comments. :) SysV and Win x64 differ enough that the Windows code is mostly unrelated to/detached from the other backends, so it doesn't feel (too) awful for it to have its own idiosyncratic style.
peterfirefly 4mo ago
I tried to look at the QBE code years ago while I was writing my own SSA code. I got approximately nowhere because I can't read code like that. Turns out that reading the SSA papers and writing the code was a lot easier than reading QBE.
tocariimaa 4mo ago
Bitdiddler style, he thinks he's smart for making his code convoluted and unreadable.

norir 4mo ago

It is hard for me to fully trust a compiler backend that isn't self hosted. There is a discipline that self hosting imposes that would both improve the quality of their ir as well as the backend itself. A self hosted backend can always be updated to have performance meeting or exceeding the best that llvm or any other backend can offer.

IshKebab 4mo ago

Yeah that looks like they've prioritised code golfing a bit too much over code quality. Also using AT&T assembly syntax shows poor taste. Definitely 80s themed software.

orthoxerox 4mo ago

Yeah, I tried my hand at adding amd64_win support to QBE, but going through the very dense code was a slog. I kept refactoring and commenting it just to make heads or tails of it, but ultimately realized I would never be able to minify it back to something upstreamable. I applaud Scott Graham's perseverance and tenacity.

s3graham 4mo ago
Quentin took pity on me and let me upstream amd64_win with my lengthy variable names and including chatty comments. :) SysV and Win x64 differ enough that the Windows code is mostly unrelated to/detached from the other backends, so it doesn't feel (too) awful for it to have its own idiosyncratic style.

peterfirefly 4mo ago

I tried to look at the QBE code years ago while I was writing my own SSA code. I got approximately nowhere because I can't read code like that. Turns out that reading the SSA papers and writing the code was a lot easier than reading QBE.

tocariimaa 4mo ago

Bitdiddler style, he thinks he's smart for making his code convoluted and unreadable.