Optimizing C and portable Bliss compilers

[Forest Baskett]

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> Personnally I can understand why the Fortran compiler is an embarrasement,
> considering the attitude in this community toward Fortran.  However, I
> cannot understand why Unix does not come with a super-optimizing C compiler,
> as any increase in the speed of the code produced will speed up all of Unix.
> Surely by now better could be done.
> -- 
> Bill Sebok			Princeton University, Astrophysics

Yes, but have you ever heard of a Portable Bliss Compiler?  The effort has
simply been in different directions.

	Alan S. Driscoll
	AT&T Bell Laboratories
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Ah, but in six months Mike Powell produced a portable, optimizing Modula-2
compiler that produces better code than the Bliss-32 compiler for the VAX and
MUCH better code than pcc.  While he hasn't actually demonstrated it's
portability yet, it does go thru an intermediate language that has been used
on numerous other machines.  We should have some demonstrations soon.  And,
following up Mark Callow's comment, Mike's compiler comes with complete
support for dbx debugging!  (PS: The dbx effort has moved to Stanford.)

Forest Baskett - DEC Western Research Laboratory