IBM Releases Compiler for Power4 and G5

davids-world.com writes "IBM offers its optimized XLC compiler not just for Intel CPUs, but also for its own G5 processor (article in German at Heise). Unlike gcc, it is optimized for the G5 and achieves a major boost in speed, as first results show. I guess we will have to compare the new benchmark data (once available) with the data we get with the optimized Intel compiler for Xeon. The compiler is available for download now."

Comments

All right!

[Prince_Ali]

So will this new compiler speed up the process of porting Duke Nukem Forever to the Mac?

Re:All right!

[Lxy]

Yes, it compiles vaporware in half the time.

Duke Nukem Forever - you don't get it

[Anonymous Coward]

>So will this new compiler speed up the process of porting Duke Nukem Forever to the Mac?

Sorry to burst your bobble, but there's a reason why the game name's Duke Nukem *Forever*. That's the amount of time it will take to make it.

IBM G5

[Anonymous Coward]

I, for one, welcome our new IBM overlords.

Ok, now that's out of the way, let's get back to real comments.

Re:why don't they just improve gcc?

[levik]

Is there some good reason why IBM doesn't just give away fre ThinkPads? I mean programmers use thinkpads... Managers use thinkpads. Thinkpads are pretty decent laptops...

Why can't they just give them away for free?

I can see it now...

[fuqqer]

The top 5 questions/posts from slashdotters:

1) Is it open source, I didn't RtFA?
2) Why isn't it open source?
3) Will they release it for Linux on the ppc?
4) What does this have to do with SCO?
5) Apple is dead and these are flawed stats flamewar.

I'm too lazy to come up with a sig that is good enough to be the same everytime, so you can just read this instead. You can try and rid your braincells of this text, but it's pretty much stuck there now.

Re:I can see it now...

[jared_hanson]

You know a situation is bad when it becomes cliche to post a list of cliches.

I, for one, welcome our incompetent moderator overlords.

Re:Here we go again:

[Frymaster]

Simple: $/MHz, the x86 architecture spanks the commercially available G-series (Mac).

great! i'll give you my commodore 64 for FREE. that will have the best $/MHz ratio possible. i'm sure you'll love it.

Re:why don't they just improve gcc?

[FroMan]

I wonder why folks modded you insightful here. The cynic in me says they missed the sarcasm you laid down pretty thick and thought they should really get laptops for free.

A Question

[1000StonedMonkeys]

Is the word "fanboy" used by anyone but fanboys?

Re:G5 upgrade woes

[kerry-buckley]

My 486/66 with 8 megs of ram that has the SoBig and Blaster virus runs faster than this G5 dual 2GHz machine at times.

But I bet whoever sold you the Quadra tower sprayed silver and with "G5" written on it in crayon is laughing.

The speed could be infinite.

[Aqua OS X]

The speed could be infinite. IBMs new complier is powered by rainbows, dreams, wishes, magic gumdrop sprinkles, and imagination. Theoretically speaking, you could bypass the rainbows, dreams, and wishes; while using a wrapper to off-load the burden of the magic gumdrop sprinkles to the flux capacitor. Then you could primarily focus your development on imagination... which would allow you to compile and run applications at a speed predetermined by your imagination.

I've also heard that the wishes and dreams can be fairly powerful tools as well. However, results may vary due to unfulfilled wishes and crushed dreams.

Re:Let's be objective

[Lars T.]

IOW, the PC fanboys are just going to claim that SPEC was "developed natively for the mac".