[fpc-devel] Different versions of register name search algorithms used

[Sven Barth]

Am 20.05.2020 um 18:09 schrieb Christo Crause via fpc-devel:
> While trying to understand bug 0037121I noticed that the predominant 
> search algorithm used for finding register names is a binary search 
> without a match check.  My understanding of this algorithm is that it 
> will always run the maximum iterations for the search space before 
> terminating.  To understand how this is supposed to work I looked at 
> other target implementations.  I realized that this algorithm is used 
> in all but 2 cases: x86 (in itx86int.pas) which uses (what I consider 
> to be) a conventional binary search, and mips which uses a linear search.
>
> I don't see a need to have different algorithms for performing what 
> appears to be the same function (search for a string in a sorted list 
> of strings), is this correct?
>
> Then, I don't understand why the general search algorithm isn't the 
> one in itx86int.pas.  Is there a compelling reason for preferring the 
> 1st algorithm over the conventional binary search?
>
> Thirdly, each target has its own implementation of findreg_by_XXXname, 
> is there a reason not to have a single search function shared by all 
> targets?  This may require some renaming of current variable lists 
> such as gas_regname_index and int_regname_index etc. to a common 
> convention.
>
> Your thoughts on these questions would be appreciated.

There is a general implementation of the search algorithm in rgbase 
which is already used for example by x86/itcpugas.pas as well as 
z80/cpubase.pas. So in my opinion the way to go would be to switch the 
other targets (as well as x86/itx86int.pas) to use this as well.

Regards,
Sven