dmd codegen improvements

[Shachar Shemesh via Digitalmars-d]

On 23/08/15 22:12, Walter Bright wrote:
> On 8/23/2015 11:42 AM, deadalnix wrote:
>> No, x32 is basically amd64 with 32 bits pointers. You can use all other
>> functions of amd64, like the extended number of registers.
>
> Makes sense.
At least right now, it sounds more useful than it actually is.

Since this is a different ABI, it actually requires its own version of 
the  libraries of everything, kernel support, etc. As of now, no one 
seriously uses it, and the cost of carrying two ABIs doesn't make it 
plausible, in my opinion, that this will change in the future.

To add insult to injury, Debian switched it off in their default kernel 
compilation, as they claim they don't want the extra exposure to 
security exploit through code the few test (this has saved them from at 
least one kernel security vulnerability since that decision was taken).

Also, I haven't seen any hard numbers as far as how much, if at all, 
this saves in space (likely a little) and in runtime efficiency (likely 
even less). If these are as compelling as I expect them to be, expect 
this platform to die without gaining much traction.

Shachar

The difference between theory and practice is that, in theory, there is 
no difference between theory and practice.
  -- Yoggi Berra