On 05/31/2011 06:26 PM, Theo de Raadt wrote:
Googles v8 javascript engine has Pages, Spaces, Heaps and Pagination
logic. It even has its own code to map files in. However, the managed to
avoid the common pitfall of requiring all platforms to have 4 kB pages:
they hardcoded to 8 kB instead.
And for those who don't know, OpenBSD has some 16 KB pagesize architectures.
I am no low-level C hacker (I work in industrial automation). But what
astounds me about this sort of thing is that the general programming
community never seems to learn that taking these kinds of shortcuts
eventually bites them, or their users, or the interns they trained
before they retired, hard on the buttocks. Y2K anyone? I mean, come on
-- storing data in "unused" bits in a pointer? Even I know that's a bad
idea. Is it really that important to run your Javascript 2% faster?
I don't use OpenBSD full-time as a desktop, because my principles have
been compromised by crack like Flash and high-performance virtual
machines. But this sort of thing reminds me why I do dual-boot into it
to do my online banking (if but the bank ran it on their servers as well...)
Corey
