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Re: [ping] Re: proper name of i386/x86-64/etc targets
- From: Uros Bizjak <ubizjak at gmail dot com>
- To: "H.J. Lu" <hjl dot tools at gmail dot com>
- Cc: Michael Matz <matz at suse dot de>, Sandra Loosemore <sandra at codesourcery dot com>, Richard Henderson <rth at redhat dot com>, Jan Hubicka <hubicka at ucw dot cz>, GCC Development <gcc at gcc dot gnu dot org>
- Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 15:27:08 +0100
- Subject: Re: [ping] Re: proper name of i386/x86-64/etc targets
- Authentication-results: sourceware.org; auth=none
- References: <54A5E698 dot 60702 at codesourcery dot com> <54BDBCF0 dot 9050801 at codesourcery dot com> <alpine dot LNX dot 2 dot 00 dot 1501201501140 dot 681 at wotan dot suse dot de> <CAMe9rOq3_qQPOeL+kt2koGmKgagwxhesr41M9Z3=kK=NJELU+g at mail dot gmail dot com> <alpine dot LNX dot 2 dot 00 dot 1501201513500 dot 681 at wotan dot suse dot de> <CAMe9rOprNgLo_WbweyBM+WqcrccprbeiF18Rk_vk34+1VJ1mKg at mail dot gmail dot com>
On Tue, Jan 20, 2015 at 3:23 PM, H.J. Lu <hjl.tools@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > ia32 is confusing because ia64 (a well known term) sounds related but
>>> > can't be farther away from it, and it's also vendor specific. Our
>>> > traditional i386 seems better to me (although it has its own problems,
>>> > but I'm not aware of any better abbreviation in the wild that's vendor
>>> > neutral and specifically means the 32bit incarnation of the x86
>>> > architecture).
>>> >
>>>
>>> The problem with i386 is it is a real processor. When someone says
>>> i386, it isn't clear if it means the processor or 32-bit x86.
>>
>> That's what I meant with its own problems :) But ia32 seems worse to me
>> than this IMO.
>>
>
> At least, IA-32 is clear, although IA-64 may be confusing :-). FWIW,
> i386 is also vendor specific.
Wikipedia agrees [1]:
--q--
IA-32 (short for "Intel Architecture, 32-bit", sometimes also called
i386[1][2] through metonymy)[3] is the third generation of the x86
architecture, first implemented in the Intel 80386 microprocessors in
1985. It was the first incarnation of x86 to support 32-bit
computing.[4] As such, "IA-32" may be used as a metonym to refer to
all x86 versions that support 32-bit computing.[5][6]
--/q--
IMO, comparing IA-32 and i386, IA-32 looks better.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IA-32
Uros.