2e3164a8   
   From: marcov@stack.nl   
      
   On 2008-06-09, Jim Leonard  wrote:   
   > Agreed.  Every time I use XLAT or some other 808x time/space-saving   
   > special instruction, I keep thinking about why I never see that in   
   > compiler output.  Then I start thinking about developing a compiler,   
   > and I suddenly understand why :-)   
      
   Compilers prefer orthogonal instructions. This is probably why the 80386   
   grants many instructions to use any of the GPR registers.   
      
   Moreover, the average compiler is pretty bad in optimizing for a specific   
   CPU. Some extra instructions are used (like movc in 686+), and some minor   
   rearrangements of frequently used sequences is done, but that's it.   
      
   E.g. Delphi misses such a switch at all.   
      
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