Back

Microcode in Intel's 8087 floating-point chip: the scale instruction

17 points2 hoursrighto.com
cogman101 hour ago

x87 is such a weird architecture. It was designed the same way you'd design a chip for a scientific calculator. Heck, It's almost a perfect fit for an HP RPN calculator.

But for a compiler to target, it's just so painful. It's so different from almost all other ways CPUs work. There's a reason both CPU and compilers prefer to avoid x87 when possible and use regular SIMD (SSE/AVX) instead.

Also, the arbitrary "Oh, and the registers are 80 bits wide" is also just one of those weird "Where did that number come from?".

kens2 hours ago

Author here for your 8087 questions...

gregsadetsky1 hour ago

[dead]