Author: Dann Corbit
Date: 18:19:02 02/19/04
Go up one level in this thread
On February 19, 2004 at 20:03:29, Bob Durrett wrote: > >Microprocessors are lovable little creatures which are ADORED by all >programmers, both male and female, because they are so easy [ : ) ] to program. >[That, in fact, is part of the problem.] There is even a new breed of digital >engineers who have wrapped their entire careers around the little cuties. Many >programmers owe their very professional existence to microprocessors. Micro/Mainframe/Embedded processor are all irrelevant. It is the programming language layer that we target. If I write a chess program in C or C++ (or whatever) then I can run my program on any system that has a compiler for it. You will find (for instance) that GCC targets many, many architectures. >It's all an evil deception intended to make programmers and engineers alike go >astray. > >When microprocessors first became widely available, about thirty years ago, they >hit the technical world like an atom bomb. People jumped on the microprocessor >bandwagon like they were the best thing since sex and now some even worship >microprocessors! Inigo replied, "You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means." >The new programmers, scientists, and engineers just coming out >of college think that microprocessors [and EPROMS] have been around forever, >since before creation, and that it is a SIN to design anything which does not >contain at least one microprocessor. Strawmen are not as fun as the real ones. You're just being silly now. >It is the speed and sequential nature of microprocessors which is both their >strength and their weakness, depending on the application. > >A chess programmer sees a microprocessor as being a gift from Heaven, along with >the alpha/beta algorithm. [Shannon is seen as being a Saint.] They are both seen as tools. >If a chess engine were functionally decomposed into simple functional elements >and if it were decided to provide hardware to perform those simple functions, >then you can be sure that the modern designer would, without hesitation, reach >for a microprocessor. Why? Because "That's the way things are done." Each >functional element would have it's own dedicated microprocessor. You have no idea what you are talking about. >Suppose the overall function of a chess engine were accomplished, mainly, by >performing the various functions sequentially, one after the other. Suppose >also that each function is performed by hardware elements each containing a >microprocessor. What would happen? Since the functions would be performed one >after the other [i.e. sequentially] and since each individual simple function >would be performed by the sequential process within the microprocessor for that >simple functional element, then the net result would be no faster or better than >doing the entire chess engine function on a single microprocessor. To make this >completely evident, note that I am postulating that only one microprocessor is >working at any given time and that after one finishes the next starts. > >It should be evident that trying to create a hardware version of a chess engine >should involve few if any microprocessors. Only those tasks which cannot >possibly be performed non-sequentially should have a microprocessor. If more >than one microprocessor must be used, then a way should be found for them to run >in parallel. Better would be no microprocessors at all. Hardware solutions always include CPUs. That goes for Hitech, Deep Blue, Hydra, whatever. CPU stands for "Central Processing Unit" and it is a device that runs instructions. Pretty essential for any chess program. >The problem is that hardware designers skilled in digital design without the use >of microprocessors is a breed of cat which may have long since become extinct. The problem with your illustrations is that you are inside of a dark room and you won't turn on the light switch. >Satan laughs!!! > >Bob D.
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