Re: Decrement And Branch

One can compare the IBM 701 with 32 instructions that didn't have a loop
instruction
with the PDP-8 with 8 instructions that did to show how the idea
gradually gained
popularity.
Loop instructions make sense when a computer is programmed in assembly
language. But
if it's programmed in a higher-level language, usually what a loop
construct does is
not the same as what a loop instruction does, so the instruction is not
used.
To me, that's enough to account for them falling out of favor. But a
microprocessor
might both be used on a desktop with HLL programs primarily and in
embedded systems with
ML programs, making such instructions still relevant.
John Savard