From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Message-ID: From: C H Forsyth Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 15:53:19 +0000 To: lucio@proxima.alt.za, 9fans@cse.psu.edu Subject: Re: [9fans] const In-Reply-To: <16513104bf876d67dcbb094b8f545d54@proxima.alt.za> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="upas-rolofcrqpudavkzmcuqbdfysgg" Cc: Topicbox-Message-UUID: bc2f8a88-ead0-11e9-9d60-3106f5b1d025 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --upas-rolofcrqpudavkzmcuqbdfysgg Content-Disposition: inline Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >>list of GCC is often borne out there, one has to grant that avr-gcc is >>a dramatically superior product to any other offering for the target >>CPU. that's funny. before i read it, i was just about to observe that our Atmel compiler based on Plan 9's puts tables in program flash without any hints. const alone wouldn't help anyway because the memory is accessed using special instructions so the compiler and linker need to do more analysis. otherwise the compiler does reasonable well given that the chip is really an 8-bit micro. i think the loader zl helps zc in some cases, and also monitors stack sizes. it was important that the FFT and CC1000 tables go in program memory to save limited RAM, although that feature was added fairly late. we needed the atmel compiler for some work on motes. i looked at gcc for it a bit initially whilst waiting for ours but started to throw things or throw up; i can't remember which. --upas-rolofcrqpudavkzmcuqbdfysgg Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Received: from mail.cse.psu.edu ([130.203.4.6]) by doppio; Wed Dec 7 15:28:14 GMT 2005 Received: from psuvax1.cse.psu.edu (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mail.cse.psu.edu (CSE Mail Server) with ESMTP id 1B7255B90A for ; Wed, 7 Dec 2005 10:28:34 -0500 (EST) X-Original-To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu Delivered-To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mail.cse.psu.edu (CSE Mail Server) with ESMTP id AC1C05B306 for <9fans@cse.psu.edu>; Wed, 7 Dec 2005 10:27:57 -0500 (EST) Received: from mail.cse.psu.edu ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (psuvax1 [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 11165-01-29 for <9fans@cse.psu.edu>; Wed, 7 Dec 2005 10:27:53 -0500 (EST) Received: from meddle.iba.co.za (meddle.proxima.alt.za [196.30.44.147]) by mail.cse.psu.edu (CSE Mail Server) with ESMTP id A6F1063078 for <9fans@cse.psu.edu>; Wed, 7 Dec 2005 10:27:50 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <16513104bf876d67dcbb094b8f545d54@proxima.alt.za> To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu Subject: Re: [9fans] const From: Lucio De Re Organization: Proxima Research & Development X-Mailer: Plan 9 ACME/Mail X-Disclaimer: Everything expressed is an opinion Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 17:30:42 +0200 In-Reply-To: <59f07a0382a6955f607b8d9c97fde230@quintile.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new at cse.psu.edu X-BeenThere: 9fans@cse.psu.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: Lucio De Re , Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@cse.psu.edu> List-Id: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans.cse.psu.edu> List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: 9fans-bounces+forsyth=vitanuova.com@cse.psu.edu Errors-To: 9fans-bounces+forsyth=vitanuova.com@cse.psu.edu > To cap this the last time I did use a 16bit cpu and tried to do this, > examination of the assembly proved the (name deleted) compiler was too > dumb to take advantage. Now, irrespective of which compiler Steve is referring to... In the delusion that I may have to migrate to embedded systems when my luck with system and network administration runs out, I follow the traffic on the avr-gcc mailing list. Even though criticism on _this_ list of GCC is often borne out there, one has to grant that avr-gcc is a dramatically superior product to any other offering for the target CPU. GCC is a monstrosity, but nothing else addresses all the issues that it resolves. The cost is extremely high, but in my opinion it is worth paying. I think GCC is closer to an organism than to a formal translator and that may well be its strongest suit. ++L --upas-rolofcrqpudavkzmcuqbdfysgg--