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<H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: Chris Gray &lt;<A HREF="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</A>&gt;</LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 18:55:03 -0600</LI>
<LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
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<PRE>
[Jon A. Lambert:]

 &gt;I think Chris Gray mentioned fixing bytecode memory addresses 
 &gt;at startup, allowing direct jumps into functions.  While a performance
 &gt;boost, it makes dynamic registration and unregistration of modules
 &gt;more complex.

Yep. More complex, but not impossible. I guess my feeling is that
module-unload events are fairly rare (module loading is pretty expensive,
so you want to minimize them), so having to do a bit of work at that
time, in order to save work throughout, may be a good trade-off.

 &gt;Are function calls resolved at compile-time, registration, or run-time?

Depends on what you mean by 'resolved'! Calls to visible names within
a module should be resolved at compile time. Calls from one module to
another that are fixed calls (not dependent on run-time data) can be
resolved at registration (module load) time. Calls via pointers that
MUD-code or module code can modify need to be at run-time. The comparative
cost increases in that same sequence.

 &gt;Having the return value, buys nothing either, since the caller may not use 
 &gt;it and wouldn't be able to build a proper mangled name.  
 &gt;  
 &gt;&gt; int cast(int time, string spell)  ----&gt;   #magic@cast!0x00000000$ri$ai$as
 &gt;&gt; char foo(char * bptr, bar i)    ----&gt;  #magic@foo!0x1FBA2000$rc$apc$aebar
 &gt;
 &gt;int cast(int time, string spell)  ----&gt;   #magic@cast$ai$as 
 &gt;char foo(char * bptr, bar i)    ----&gt;  #magic@foo$apc$aebar

?? By dropping the result type you are forcing run-time type checking
and a data representation that allows that. That sort of thing may be
wanted for other reasons, but the module interface descriptions aren't
a problem for it. I'm missing whatever you are getting at here.

 &gt;For a standard call format, why not just have the caller push() it's address and then all the 
 &gt;arguments from left-to-right onto the stack then jump to the callee.  The callee pops() them 
 &gt;out and loads local variables right-to-left.  Return would pop() the return address off the 
 &gt;stack and push() the result and jump to the address just popped.

Sure, that's fairly standard. The other thing you often want is for the
return instruction to pop/deallocate any local variables as well.

-- 
Chris Gray     cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA


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<li><strong><A NAME="00509" HREF="msg00509.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> "Jon A. Lambert" &lt;jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com&gt;</li></ul>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>[MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00398" HREF="msg00398.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</A></strong>, 
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Fri 23 Oct 1998, 15:05 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00433" HREF="msg00433.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</A></strong>, 
ApplePiMan <a href="mailto:ApplePiMan#aol,com">ApplePiMan#aol,com</a>, Fri 23 Oct 1998, 23:48 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00449" HREF="msg00449.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</A></strong>, 
Darrin Hyrup <a href="mailto:shades#mythicgames,com">shades#mythicgames,com</a>, Sat 24 Oct 1998, 04:10 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00434" HREF="msg00434.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</A></strong>, 
ApplePiMan <a href="mailto:ApplePiMan#aol,com">ApplePiMan#aol,com</a>, Sat 24 Oct 1998, 00:02 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00438" HREF="msg00438.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</A></strong>, 
Chris Gray <a href="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</a>, Sat 24 Oct 1998, 01:01 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00509" HREF="msg00509.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</A></strong>, 
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Mon 26 Oct 1998, 05:20 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00514" HREF="msg00514.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</A></strong>, 
Adam J. Thornton <a href="mailto:adam#phoenix,Princeton.EDU">adam#phoenix,Princeton.EDU</a>, Mon 26 Oct 1998, 15:48 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00515" HREF="msg00515.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</A></strong>, 
Holly Sommer <a href="mailto:hsommer#micro,ti.com">hsommer#micro,ti.com</a>, Mon 26 Oct 1998, 16:08 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00516" HREF="msg00516.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: PDMud thread summary</A></strong>, 
Jo Dillon <a href="mailto:emily#thelonious,new.ox.ac.uk">emily#thelonious,new.ox.ac.uk</a>, Mon 26 Oct 1998, 16:20 GMT
</LI>
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</UL></BLOCKQUOTE>

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