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Re: Harlequin 1.2 still available?
"Harry Chomsky" <harryc@chomsky.net> wrote in message
8k815.12875$hp4.397764@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net">news:8k815.12875$hp4.397764@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
> I had a slightly different understanding of how this works: isn't it the
> object *reference* that has a few reserved bits, rather than the object
> itself? That is, most objects consist of an allocated chunk of memory
with
> a type-tag word followed by the object's data. When you pass the object
> around or store it in a variable, you're really passing around a pointer
or
> handle to that chunk of memory. But with tagged integers, there's no
> allocated memory at all. Rather, the handle that you pass around actually
> contains the integer's value, along with a bit indicating that it's an
> immediate integer rather than a reference to an allocated object.
Now that it's put this way, I have seen them before.
Ok, but now why does the CPU "know" about them, and how? Wouldn't this be
a runtime feature.
Maury
p.s. This is one of the best groups I've seen for learning about language
design, thanks guys!
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