unix and memory, sigh (was Re: What Happens I

[Scott Hess]

In article <1991Jan27.183019.18321 at scuzzy.in-berlin.de> src at scuzzy.in-berlin.de (Heiko Blume) writes:
   >	When compiling, GCC takes up a meg of RAM just for DATA.

   do a 'make bigtest' on the flex source sometime, makes for a REALLY
   big process :-)

   >Now, sure, UNIX has virtual memory-- but it is not the Holy Grail.  It provides
   >a nice 'catch' for when you do run out of RAM.  It also provides a way of
   >telling you when it has done so-- it starts swapping to disk every time you
   >switch windows!

Actually, it's worse than you might think - most GNU utilities make
much use of virtual memory.  Before complaining, though, remember that,
in general, the more speed/space efficient a program, the harder it is
to write, and the more expensive it becomes.  GNU stuff is (nearly)
free so don't expect it to be the fastest/smallest thing on the block.

On the other hand, the GNU compiler does alot more than most PC compilers.
Comparing with the IBM PC world (I'm sorry, I'm not so familiar with
AmigaDOS compilers), gcc would have to be compared with Microsoft's
command-line compiler, and even then the comparison is hardly valid.
gcc is fairly good at optimization on the 680x0 architecture (sp?).
It's also not designed to be an interactive compiler, which means
they didn't have to worry so much about speed/space.

Of course, this doesn't me I wouldn't like a quick&dirty, single-pass
version of gcc.  I work on NeXTs, which use exclusively gcc as their
compiler - /bin/cc _is_ gcc, in fact.  It's bad enough for me that
I log into our file server and make/compile there, so that I need not
swap out every other process on my local machine (8M only, alas).

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, though.  With memory at
$35/Meg, it would be wise to check in and see just how much 4M
adds to your machine's functionality (check out a computer store
or friend's machine, for instance).

--
scott hess                      scott at gac.edu
Independent NeXT Developer	GAC Undergrad
<I still speak for nobody>
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