Re: Why VAX Was the Ultimate CISC and Not RISC

On 3/11/2025 12:07 PM, moi wrote:

On 11/03/2025 18:15, Stephen Fuld wrote:
 

>
I wonder if the different preferences is at least partially due to whether the person has a hardware or a software background?  The idea is that when hardware guys see the instruction, they think in terms of register ports (read versus write), what is required of the memory system (somewhat different for loads versus stores), etc.  However software guys think of a language construct, e.g. X = Y, which is logically a move.  I don't know if this is right, but I think it is interesting.

 No, it is logically a copy.

While that is true, I don't think anyone is talking about a "copy" op code.  :-)  I had thought about mentioning in the software part of the argument that COBOL actually has a "move" verb to accomplish that, i.e. "Move A to B." even though you are technically right that it is a copy.
--
  - Stephen Fuld
(e-mail address disguised to prevent spam)