RE: Open Source BlackBox compiler - Win64 version?

From: CFB Software <"CFB>
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 11:23:17 +1030

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> Chris Burrows wrote:
>
> >> The proposed project is to develop a version of the compiler to

> >> exploit the recent 64-bit processors from Intel and AMD that are
> >> supported by
> >> the upcoming 64-bit version of Windows. The idea comes from
> >> observing
> >> much heated discussion in the Borland newsgroups lately by
> >> Delphi (i.e.

> >> Object Pascal) developers who are disappointed that there
> >> is no ETA for
> >> a true 64-bit version of Delphi.

Robert Campbell wrote:
>
> A 64-bit system is indeed of interest.
>
> I think a 64-bit system comprises processors (available),

Yes. Currently available are the AMD Athlon 64, AMD Opteron, Intel Xeon
with Intel EM64T support and the Intel Pentium 4 with Intel EM64T
support. Note that this does NOT include the Intel Itanium. The included
processors are 'X86-64' i.e. 64-bit extensions to the existing X86
instruction set. The Intel Itanium has a completely new instruction set
which might lead to a better technical result but would be an order or
two of magnitude harder to implement.

> operating system (Chris describes Windows as 'forthcoming'; I
> don't know quite what that means)

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition supporting the X86-64 processors is
currently available as a time-limited (360 day) pre-release trial:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/default.mspx

It is currently slated for release first half of 2005.

> a development environment

I was (perhaps naively?) assuming the development environment would be
BlackBox itself. However, there may be some low-level parts of BlackBox
written in a language other than Component Pascal. Can anybody who might
know advise us of this?

> (when?, what?, how?, how much?) and motherboards that support
> gobs of memory. (gobs in not a technical term, it is slang
> meaning 'a very large amount', very much more than currently
> supported by BBox.)
>

1Gb of memory would be plenty to do the development work. Testing that
the extended memory is accessible on a 64-bit system would require a
system with more than 2Gb of RAM. I just checked Dell's website and a
3Ghz, 4Gb RAM Xeon Extended Memory 64 Workstation could be delived
before the end of the month for just over $US 3000. (I remember paying
more than twice that amount for a 12Mhz Compaq 286 - luxury!)

> How to get there:- Unix & c?, or Unix & a BB port?. Will
> Windows provide a path?
>

I was only considering Windows as it is by far the easiest task given
the version of BlackBox that currently exixts.

> I suspect (but don't pretent to know) that Chris's project
> might involve more than upgrading the compiler's code
> generator.

Maybe - I'm not sure, but not much more perhaps. See my reply to Fyodor.

> Will the 64-bit Windows use .net, thus entailing a
> rewrite of all the 'Host' Framework Modules? And maybe much
> else (eg Controls).
>

No - my proposal is intended to be, as far as is feasible, a 64-bit
'clone' of the existing 32-bit version.

A 64-bit .NET version of Component Pascal (not BlackBox) would be far
easier to implement, using the existing Gardens Point compiler, as the
64-bit native code generation is handled by .NET itself (the Jitter -
just-in-time compiler) and all the work is done for you by Microsoft.

P.S. Robert's quotes in the above were edited as advised in his
subsequent post so that Rex doesn't get the blame for any of this :-)

Chris Burrows
CFB Software
http://www.cfbsoftware.com

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Received on Thu Dec 09 2004 - 01:53:17 UTC

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