Compiler

fence

A sequence of one or more distinguished ({out-of-band}) characters (or other data items), used to delimit a piece of data intended to be treated as a unit (the computer-science literature calls this a sentinel). The NUL (ASCII 0000000) character that terminates strings in C is a fence. Hex FF is also (though slightly less frequently) used this way. See {zigamorph}.
An extra data value inserted in an array or other data structure in order to allow some normal test on the array's contents also to function as a termination test. For example, a highly optimized routine for finding a value in an array might artificially place a copy of the value to be searched for after the last slot of the array, thus allowing the main search loop to search for the value without having to check at each pass whether the end of the array had been reached.
[among users of optimizing compilers] Any technique, usually exploiting knowledge about the compiler, that blocks certain optimizations. Used when explicit mechanisms are not available or are overkill. Typically a hack: "I call a dummy procedure there to force a flush of the optimizer's register-coloring info" can be expressed by the shorter "That's a fence procedure".

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Marcadores: ASCII, Compiler, Computer, Languages, Programming

# 5/18/2009 02:31:00 PM, Comentários, Links para esta postagem,

jock

A programmer who is characterized by large and somewhat brute-force programs. See {brute-force}.
When modified by another noun, describes a specialist in some particular computing area. The compounds compiler, jock and systems jock seem to be the best-established examples.

Marcadores: Brute-force, Compiler, Jock, Programmer

# 5/18/2009 01:31:00 AM, Comentários, Links para esta postagem,

pessimizing compiler

pessimizing compiler:

[antonym of techspeak `optimizing compiler'] A compiler that produces object code that is worse than the straightforward or obvious hand translation. The implication is that the compiler is actually trying to optimize the program, but through excessive cleverness is doing the opposite. A few pessimizing compilers have been written on purpose, however, as pranks or burlesques.