🚀 go-pugleaf

/ hpcuhe:comp.arch / rwallace@unix1.tcd.ie (russell wallace) /  7:25 pm  Jun 16, 1991 /
"RISC" these days is not to be taken very literally. Most modern RISC
processors have:

lots of 32-bit registers

orthogonal 3-operand instructions

load/store with powerful addressing modes and optional sign-extension on
loads

integral floating-point

on the SPARC, function calls with parameter passing in a single
instruction

on several RISC chips, every instruction can be conditional on one of
the status bits, and can optionally set the status register

Therefore, a program on a modern "RISC" chip takes fewer instructions
(usually by about 30% or so) than the same program on a 680x0 or 80x86.
However because every instruction on a RISC chip is 32 bits wide whereas
some instructions on a 680x0 are only 16 bits and a few on an 80x86 are
only 8 bits (e.g. RET), the object file will probably be larger to the
tune of 10-15% ... in other words, not a significant difference.

"To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem"
Russell Wallace, Trinity College, Dublin
rwallace@unix1.tcd.ie
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