Newsgroups: comp.lang.apl
Path: watmath!watserv1!utgpu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!haven.umd.edu!umbc3.umbc.edu!gmuvax2!ccoleman
From: ccoleman@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (Chuck Coleman)
Subject: Re: 386 apl
Message-ID: <1991Oct24.013739.14720@gmuvax2.gmu.edu>
Organization: George Mason University, Fairfax, Va.
References: <1991Oct21.025251.4466@tc.cornell.edu>
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1991 01:37:39 GMT

In article <1991Oct21.025251.4466@tc.cornell.edu> homer@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU (Homer Smith) writes:

>     I presume that when you say that a 386 can run APL up to
>the full memory of the machine, that you mean a 386DX and not an SX.

This means both are suitable, see below.
 
>     SX machines are 16 bit, right?  And DX machines are 32?

Yes and no.  The 80386SX has a 16-bit data bus, as opposed to the DX's
32 bits, which means that it communicates with memory at half the
speed when 32-bit operands are transferred.  Otherwise, they both have
the same 32-bit word lengths, 32-bit address spaces, and instruction
sets.  In other words, they operate identically except when for 32-bit
memory accesses, in which case the DX is faster.  Similarly, the 80486
runs everything that the '386 chips run, only even faster.  Moreover,
the '486 instruction set is a superset of the '386's, so there exist
'486 programs which cannot run on the '386.

Chuck Coleman                "Sorry, no concluding witticism"

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