MMIX
1999; Springer Science+Business Media; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1007/3-540-46611-8_2
ISSN1611-3349
Autores ResumoThirty-eight years have passed since the MIX computer was designed, and computer architecture has been converging during those years towards a rather different style of machine. Therefore it is time to replace MIX with a new computer that contains even less saturated fat than its predecessor. Exercise 1.3.1–25 in the third edition of Fundamental Algorithms speaks of an extended MIX called MixMaster, which is upward compatible with the old version. But MixMaster itself is hopelessly obsolete; although it allows for several gigabytes of memory, we can’t even use it with ASCII code to get lowercase letters. And ouch, the standard subroutine calling convention of MIX is irrevocably based on self-modifying code! Decimal arithmetic and self-modifying code were popular in 1962, but they sure have disappeared quickly as machines have gotten bigger and faster. A completely new design is called for, based on the principles of RISC architecture as expounded in Computer Architecture by Hennessy and Patterson (Morgan Kaufmann, 1996). So here is MMIX, a computer that will totally replace MIX in the “ultimate” editions of The Art of Computer Programming, Volumes 1–3, and in the first editions of the remaining volumes. I must confess that I can hardly wait to own a computer like this. How do you pronounce MMIX? I’ve been saying “em-mix” to myself, because the first ‘M’ represents a new millennium. Therefore I use the article “an” instead of “a” before the name MMIX in English phrases like “an MMIX simulator.” Incidentally, the Dictionary of American Regional English 3 (1996) lists “mommix” as a common dialect word used both as a noun and a verb; to mommix something means to botch it, to bollix it. Only time will tell whether I have mommixed the definition of MMIX.
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