Re: State of the Art

On Jul 18, 7:40 pm, Peter <peter.deus...@fokus.fraunhofer.de> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I havn't worked in compiler construction and programming languages for
> some years, but now I have a chance to return to this area. I would
> like to find out what happened while I was absent.


can you put a lid on how long you were absent?


> So, let me ask the following questions:
> - In your opinion, what are the greatest advances in compiler
> construction in the last ten years?


some posters [incl. their authors] referred to parsing techniques (PEG/
ANTLR).


IMO, Java came in, -then its lack of performance brought up JIT/
hotspot editors/dynamic optimization etc. I haven't seen a technique
come up that improves generated code speed significantly. Most changes
I see in the code base are a reaction to customer input/language
standards etc..


    Major changes in compiler optimization (at the back-end) are
invariably driven by changes in processor micro-architecture. So,
tracking architectural changes is probably a good way to locate
changes in compiler back-end technique.


  In that regard, POWER archiecture from IBM shifted many optimixations
to h/w via on-chip scheduler/branch-miss prediction. Itanium OTOH
shifted optimizations to s/w. Itanium has a concept of instruction
bundles, which are taken advantage of by the backend to schedule
instructions in parallel on different functional units. In general,
new/emerging changes to hw include :-


-energy efficiency
-virtualization/redundancy
-multi core (coz we are hitting moore;s law)


> - What are the most important current trends?
>
the above 3 issues should be the major drivers [if you depend on
processor roadmaps as a hint]


regards
-kamal

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