[CS-FSLUG] Query: 64-bit vs 32-bit

[Ed Hurst]

Frank Bax wrote:
> At 10:36 AM 8/30/06, Ed Hurst wrote:
>> It's true there are currently few advantages apparent to the average
>> user. I know so little, so I have to ask: Is it possible coding with
>> 32-bit is a mindset, a basic design structure in itself? Does taking
>> full advantage of 64-bit -- the extra registers, the SSE2/SSE3 stuff,
>> etc. -- require a completely different way of looking at code? If
>> someone started a new project from scratch, and were thinking in 64-bit
>>from the start, would it be very different?
> 
> Perhaps its a support issue.  Before a developer can produce a 64-bit 
> binary, they need a 64-bit compiler that runs on a stable 64-bit 
> OS.  Presumably there are some coding difference, if only in system API 
> calls.  They can then start coding for 64-bit, but will there be any uses 
> of their software on that platform yet?  Why invest the effort before there 
> is a real market?  During the coding/release process, developer also needs 
> to decide if they have resources to support both 32 and 64 bit versions for 
> a period of time.

I believe that would be the follow-on question. That is, asking such a 
question depends on whether there is a difference. For now, I believe 
it's mostly a matter of the compiler "knowing" the difference and doing 
its best to take advantage of it.

> Does anyone remember the change from 16-bit to 32-bit Windows and the long 
> delay before 32-bit apps actually appeared (in some case several 
> years)?  Was there a similar transition with Linux?

I was under the impression Linux was 32-bit from the start. I seem to 
recall one tech writer offered the opinion the jump from 16 to 32 is 
somehow less significant in quality as well as quantity than the jump 
from 32 to 64. However, that wasn't addressed to specific CPUs.

-- 
Ed Hurst
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