On processors for D (Was: Re: std.date proposal)

[Walter Bright]

Georg Wrede wrote:
> Walter Bright wrote:
>> Double has another problem when used as a date - there are embedded 
>> processors in wide use that don't have floating point hardware. This
>> means that double shouldn't be used in core routines that are not 
>> implicitly related to doing floating point calculations.
> 
> Ignoring the issue of date, I have a comment on processors:
> 
> IIRC, D will never be found on a processor less than 32 bits. Further, 
> it may take some time before D actually gets used in something embedded.
> 
> By that time, IMHO, it is unlikely that a 32b processor would not 
> contain a math unit.
> 
> ---
> 
> Of course this may warrant a discussion here, which is good, because 
> then we might end up with a more clear set of goals, both for library 
> development and for D itself.

At the start that D wasn't going to accommodate 16 bit processors for 
very good reasons, there are 32 bit processors in wide use in the 
embedded market that do not have hardware floating point. There is no 
reason to gratuitously not run on those systems.