[Info-vax] BASIC and AST routines

[Dave Froble]

On 11/23/2021 1:41 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 11/23/2021 1:37 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>> On 2021-11-22, VAXman-  @SendSpamHere.ORG <VAXman- at SendSpamHere.ORG> wrote:
>>> In article <sngp1p$aud$2 at dont-email.me>, Simon Clubley
>>> <clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP> writes:
>>>> On 2021-11-19, Dave Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm going to confess to curiosity.  Why are R0, R1, SP, and PC passed to an
>>>>> AST
>>>>> routine?
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Because it's another example of VMS functionality being implemented
>>>> at way too low an abstraction level because of the need to support
>>>> Macro-32 as an application programming language.
>>>
>>> BULLSHIT!  If you believe that's true, please provide an illustrating example.
>>> I'll be waiting...
>>
>> That VMS API passes in a stack pointer, a PC and what were originally
>> two architecture-specific registers.
>>
>> That kind of information simply would not be exposed at application
>> code level in a modern version of that API as it would (rightly) be
>> treated as an implementation specific detail that would be handled
>> by the compiler.
>>
>> That information is only needed because the lowest supported application
>> language on VMS is Macro-32 and not C (or another comparable low-level
>> language).
>
> What does the Macro-32 application developers need those
> arguments for that the C application developers does not need
> them for?
>
> Arne
>
>

Ya know, that sort of gets back to my question ...

-- 
David Froble                       Tel: 724-529-0450
Dave Froble Enterprises, Inc.      E-Mail: davef at tsoft-inc.com
DFE Ultralights, Inc.
170 Grimplin Road
Vanderbilt, PA  15486