Re: Dynamic Typing Efficiency

clearm@comcast.net writes:


> The only way to avoid this that I can think of is to create a
> statically typed language. That way I can use instructions like IADD,
> DADD, ILOAD, DLOAD, etc, sort of like the JVM. But I don't want a
> statically typed language!


Well, if you want a dynamically typed language, you're going to pay
some cost, in general.


But you can use all manner of tricks to diminish that cost. For
example, do like many Lisp implmenetations -- represent integers so
that smallish ones can be represented directly. So you can tell the
difference between a "fixnum" (smallish integer) and a
pointer-to-whatever. Pointers are typically aligned, so you can use
the low-order bits for representing various information. So you can
have a quick test for the common case of adding two smallish integers,
followed by more complicated stuff. The "quick tests" need not
reference memory.


- Bob

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