Kernel LISP - how low down can it go?

[Fare Rideau]

>>>: Dave Hudson
>>: Fare
>: Dave Hudson

>>> how low-level [is it] possible to get with something like Lisp
>>> before it's necessary to hit some sort of assembler code?
>
>> For instance, you could have something like GCC's asm() statements,
>> where you specify a both the assembly code and its calling convention.
>
> I'd dearly like to avoid this if at all possible.  If my Lisp compiler's
> going to target a specific CPU I'd rather expand it to cope with cases
> where I'd reach for inline asm code with gcc.
>
In a reflective system, there's no big difference
between inserting asm code and modifying the compiler.
The former is just a particular case of the latter in an ad-hoc case.
An of course, we'll support the latter.
Just to say that everything can be done seamlessly from the lisp system
without having to use a static set of separately specified
external assembly routines.

> Certainly one of the
> reasons why I'd like to explore the idea of a kernel Lisp is because I
> hope it will allow a simple enough compiler to make such modifications
> relatively straightforward.
>
Sure!

#f