From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Message-ID: <20020228223058.6188.qmail@g.bio.cse.psu.edu>
From: bwc@borf.com
To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu
Subject: Re: [9fans] GUI toolkit for Plan 9
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Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 17:30:58 -0500
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When do we get to the point of diminishing returns using optimizing compilers?
Do people actually think that large sources are as free from bugs as
smaller sources are?  Is it worth the uncertainty of fancy compilers
to have your application run 0.09 instead of 0.10 seconds?

N. Wirths guidelines:

	- Use straightforward techniques
	- Simple compilers are more reliable compilers
	- Generate good code for the frequent case;
		don't optimize the exceptions
	- Generate good code from the beginning;
		don't generate bad code and optimize later
	- Don't let the compiler repair poor programming style
	- Generate predictable code
	- What is difficult to compile is usually also difficult to understand
	- Instead of applying more sophisticated compilation techniques,
		simplify the language
	- Strive for short compilation times
	- A compiler is also an educational tool;
		it should inhibit bad programming style
	- Write the compiler in its own language

Hanspeter Mossenbock, `Compiler Construction: The Art of
Niklaus Wirth', The School of Niklaus Wirth: The Art
of Simplicity, 2000, dpunkt.verlag GmbH, pp 55-68. ISBN 1-55860-723-4

 Brantley