handouts/ho01.tex
changeset 418 010c5a03dca2
parent 417 e74c696821a2
child 443 cd43d8c6eb84
--- a/handouts/ho01.tex	Tue Aug 23 23:12:55 2016 +0200
+++ b/handouts/ho01.tex	Wed Sep 14 11:02:44 2016 +0100
@@ -27,6 +27,27 @@
 %%  reasons for a new prgramming language
 %% http://beautifulracket.com
 
+%regher
+% We can start off with a couple of observations about the role of
+% compilers. First, hardware is getting weirder rather than getting
+% clocked faster: almost all processors are multicores and it looks
+% like there is increasing asymmetry in resources across
+% cores. Processors come with vector units, crypto accelerators, bit
+% twiddling instructions, and lots of features to make virtualization
+% and concurrency work. We have DSPs, GPUs, big.little, and Xeon
+% Phi. This is only scratching the surface. Second, we’re getting
+% tired of low-level languages and their associated security
+% disasters, we want to write new code, to whatever extent possible,
+% in safer, higher-level languages. Compilers are caught right in the
+% middle of these opposing trends: one of their main jobs is to help
+% bridge the large and growing gap between increasingly high-level
+% languages and increasingly wacky platforms. It’s effectively a
+% perpetual employment act for solid compiler hackers.
+
+% compiler explorer
+% https://gcc.godbolt.org
+
+
 \begin{document}
 \fnote{\copyright{} Christian Urban, King's College London, 2014, 2015, 2016}