Lisp, the machine language. Was Re: Hallelujah! - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

4 Apr 1999

...
 On Sun, 4 Apr 1999, Chuck McManis wrote:

 They are micro-coded to run LISP, sorta like the
WD P-Engine machines run
PASCAL. 
So, an assembly language program for them would look like lisp, as opposed
to  MOVs, ADDs, and so forth? And same with Pascal? But why would anyone
want something that was microcoded to run Pascal? Are there any other
languages that have gotten microcoded into a processor?

 --Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com)

The value of a high-level language capable machine is that the code can run
without the need to invoke language translation.  In such cases, the
hardware
becomes a language interpreter, with the speed of processing dramatically
increased.  For a well designed system, the speed of processing is actually
greater for a Lisp program running on a Lisp machine than it would be for
the same Lisp program to run on a non-Lisp machine CISC or RISC
processor.

William R. Buckley