Re: [gforth] IA64 asm?

[Bernd Paysan]

Am Donnerstag, 25. April 2013, 18:17:04 schrieb Jeffrey Chimene:
> On 04/25/2013 05:26 PM, Bernd Paysan wrote:
> > Am Donnerstag, 25. April 2013, 12:17:15 schrieb Jeffrey Chimene:
> >> Hi Folks,
> >> 
> >> I didn't see anything about this in the archives.
> >> 
> >> Can anyone tell me why there's no IA64 assembler?
> > 
> > Probably because nobody had the time to write one?
> 
> HI Bernd,
> 
> Thanks for the reply!
> 
> I've been following GForth for a few years. I finally have a use case.
> 
> Background
> =======
>     I'm interested in porting Node.js to OpenVMS. While I'd prefer
> starting w/ Alpha, it's probably better to start w/ IA64.
> 
>     To port Node.js, one must also port the V8 javascript engine. V8
> generates machine code at run time along two paths: a sort of "fast
> first" path, and a dynamically optimized path. Both paths converge on a
> set of common routines all of which converge on a common code generator.
> 
>     To bootstrap the porting process to Mips from an existing
> architecture (e.g. AMD64), somebody wrote a Mips simulator (C++). This
> simulator exports the same function signature as the code generator above.
> 
> Today
> ===
> The simulator is a fine piece of work, but it's written for a RISC
> machine. I cannot see converting the simulator out of the box to IA64. I
> really think I'm going to need a workbench to figure out the intricacies
> of IA64. Fortunately, I don't need the /entire/ IA64 instruction set.
> Some instructions are forbidden to user-space code, and other
> instructions don't make sense in the context of V8 (e.g. MMX & XMM
> instructions). Because this is OpenVMS, the alternate IA32e mode does
> not apply. Once I have that subset sort-of, kind-of working, I can
> direct attention to the simulator.
> 
> And, what better workbench than Forth?
> 
> Are you interested in the results? Or, is the subsetting a no-go for you?

Several assemblers in Gforth (including x86/x64 and ARM) are subsets, because 
there are so many additions to the ISAs, so subsets are not a problem at all.  
Go for it and share the results!

-- 
Bernd Paysan
"If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself"
http://bernd-paysan.de/

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