Carl Glen Ponder

EECS Department
University of California, Berkeley
Technical Report No. UCB/CSD-83-122
May 1983

http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1983/CSD-83-122.pdf

The Berkeley RISC microprocessor, developed under the direction of David Patterson & Carlo Sequin [1], is targeted for efficient execution of C programs. The architecture has competed successfully with existing systems such as the Vax-11/780 and MC68000. A major question about such a reduced, targeted architecture is how well it extends to other languages. An important language in symbolic computation is Lisp. Lisp is a functional language which has little in common with the standard block structured languages, such as C. This has led to the often-asked question -- "will RISC run Lisp?".

The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of a LISP system running on RISC. The major parts of this include a look at the behavior of large-scale "typical" Lisp programs, and an examination of current LISP implementations.

BibTeX citation:

@techreport{Ponder:CSD-83-122,
    Author = {Ponder, Carl Glen},
    Title = {"... but will RISC run LISP??" (a feasibility study)},
    Institution = {EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley},
    Year = {1983},
    Month = {May},
    URL = {http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1983/5672.html},
    Number = {UCB/CSD-83-122},
    Abstract = {The Berkeley RISC microprocessor, developed under the direction of David Patterson & Carlo Sequin [1], is targeted for efficient execution of C programs. The architecture has competed successfully with existing systems such as the Vax-11/780 and MC68000.  A major question about such a reduced, targeted architecture is how well it extends to other languages. An important language in symbolic computation is Lisp. Lisp is a functional language which has little in common with the standard block structured languages, such as C.  This has led to the often-asked question -- "will RISC run Lisp?".  <p>  The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of a LISP system running on RISC. The major parts of this include a look at the behavior of large-scale "typical" Lisp programs, and an examination of current LISP implementations.}
}

EndNote citation:

%0 Report
%A Ponder, Carl Glen
%T "... but will RISC run LISP??" (a feasibility study)
%I EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley
%D 1983
%@ UCB/CSD-83-122
%U http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1983/5672.html
%F Ponder:CSD-83-122