Re: 64-bit

[Vernon Hamberg <vhamberg@xxxxxxxxx>]

But see this from the ILR RPG Programmer's Guide:

>Using ILE C and other languages, you can declare pointers to teraspace
>memory. ILE C requires a special compile-time option to address this type of
>storage, but ILE RPG can always address this storage if compiled with a target
>release of V4R4M0 or later. For more information on pointers in teraspace, see
>the ILE Concepts, SC41-5606-05 publication.


At 06:27 PM 3/21/02 -0600, you wrote:
>From: <thomas@inorbit.com>
> > > > IBM's first 64-bit computer, the 7030, was delivered to "Los Alamos
> > > > Scientific Laboratory" on April 16th, 1961, so 64-bit computing goes
> > > > way back.
> > >
> > > Please keep in mind that we're discussing bus widths, etc., for
>addressing
> > bits; not systems that had 64-bits of total memory.
>
>the hyphen in "64-bits" prevented me from seeing the joke ("64 bit").
>After 35 years in this business I have developed an occupational
>disease: "I take things too literally".
>
> >
> > you are quite correct, the 7030 only had an address space of 24 bits,
> > quite the same as a segment on the AS/400. How do you in RPG create
> > and directly access an array with, say, 1000 Terabytes of data? as
> > you should be able to do in "true" 64-bit addressing.
>
>
>Although I was obviously (I hope) joking the first time around, this is now a
>significant technical issue. My take on it is simple -- it's irrelevant.
>
>That is, a particular language implementation, limitation, expression or
>whatever, has no necessary connection to a particular hardware architecture
>feature. A major point of HLLs is that such hardware details are hidden and
>even untouchable.
>
>==> true, but the hype about 64-bit computing is that "freed from the
>limitations
>of the smaller address space (4GB!) the programmers are much more
>productive".
>Since most of these programmers work in some HLL, if the HLL does not give
>them access to the bigger address space, because "it is hidden", the issue
>gains meaning.
>
>-----------------
>
>OTOH, more often than not, you have takes on such issues that are
>instructive; so I gotta ask... Do you think that issue is meaningful? If so,
>can you say why?
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing list
>To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
>To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
>visit: http://lists.midrange.com/cgi-bin/listinfo/midrange-l
>or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@midrange.com
>Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
>at http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.