HLL vs. \"HLL-like\" macro packages

[cottrell at nbs-vms.ARPA]

/*
> >> Furthermore, developing macros can make an assembler look more 
> >> structured and introduce some higher-level concepts, but it normally
> >> makes the code produced LESS good than hand coding.
> >
> >If that is true, how can a compiler produce better code than by hand?
> >High level languages are in a sense complex macros. Anyway, your code
> >is probably I/O bound. 
> 
> A compiler can produce better code than a set of HLL-like macros because
> the (any decent) compiler contains an optimizer, which no assembler I'm
> familiar with does.
> 
> 		-- David Dyer-Bennet
> 		-- ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-mrvax!ddb

the opti-miser is the programmer. gimme almost any compiler output & i'll
hack a few instruxions off it. gimme the source for that matter & i'll
generate better code than the compiler. dna is awesome!
*/