🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1747@opus.NMSU.Edu> sitze@nmsu.edu (Richard Sitze) writes:

   In article <RYAN.91Jul17225230@ra.cs.umb.edu> ryan@ra.cs.umb.edu
   (Daniel R. Guilderson) writes:

   >Your assignment for the day, should you choose to accept it Mr.
   >Phelps, is to transfer exactly one 32-bit word between a VAX and a
   >68000 computer.  The word must represent the same integer on both
   >architectures.  How do you do it without byte-swapping?

   You are looking at this from a narrow point of view.

   By byte-swapping (as done by Sun NFS (and thus I assume the patent
   that Sun has supposedly infringed on declares a similar approach))
   I would transfer a 32-bit word from a VAX to an Intel 386 by
   converting VAX ordering to Motorola (NFS standard matches the Motorola
   68000 byte ordering I recall), send it over the network to the Intel 386,
   and convert to local Intel byte ordering - a round about way one must
   admit, and certainly not the obvious solution to your original
   question (though 'prehaps' obvious when one looks at the larger
   picture).  Even worse, if I follow the NFS standard, I send from VAX A
   to VAX B by converting to Motorola 68000 as a middle step....

Wrong!  It is obvious, when "one looks at the larger picture".  Your
method would require every computer to know what byte order every other
computer used, which is impractical.  The only practical solution is to
use a canonical byte order, and it doesn't matter which one you pick.

-- 
Joe Wells <jbw@uswest.com>