I disagree with many of your points, somewhere between mildly and vehemently. :-) One thing that should be kept uppermost in mind is that Principles of Operation is a description of an architecture, not an implementation. As such, its descriptions are both complete and repetitive. This may sometimes be annoying but cannot be eliminated. If PrincOps were to be rewritten to eliminate a lot of this, it would cease to fulfill its primary function, and would simply necessitate the creation of something to take its place, namely a new Principles of Operation.
To address some of your points specifically: - No more bunching: Perhaps a reasonable suggestion. Bear in mind, though, that it would increase the repetitive nature of the document. Also, the need to ensure that similar instructions were documented similarly as much as possible would necessitate extensive reorganization of the "internals" of the document so that similar descriptions were essentially invoked as subroutines, in order to ensure that a change to, say, ASI is exactly reflected in AGSI, AGFI, AFI, etc. One of the hallmarks of PrincOps is a slavish devotion to consistency; do not break that. - Two manuals: A description of techniques does not belong in PrincOps. Suggested techniques, whether for performance or maintainability, belong in a new document, perhaps one that is implementation-specific. Many such documents have been written, although perhaps not by IBM and perhaps not kept current. Breaking out formats (numeric representation? Instruction formats? Something else?) doesn't seem to make sense, other than perhaps to make PrincOps shorter. But in today's world, the size of the document hardly matters. One book is more manageable than two, in my mind. As for hyperlinks, PrincOps is already extensively hyperlinked, at least in the PDF format. - Classification: To me, instructions from chapters 10 (control instructions) and 14 (I/O instruction) do not belong in chapter 7 (general instructions). Other than that, I wouldn't care much if you were to lump together everything in chapters 7, 8, 9, 18, 19, and 20 into one big chapter on general, decimal, and hexadecimal instructions. Typically I find my instruction by clicking on the desired chapter link in the table of contents and then clicking on the instruction link in the chapter-specific table of contents. If I somehow end up in the wrong chapter, I just go to Appendix B and find it there with a quick search. The existing classification never gave me too much trouble, but if others find it to be lacking, perhaps a reorganization would be in order. However, if the intent of reclassification is to make it easier for the reader to *learn* the architecture textbook-style (Boolean instructions, branching instructions, etc.), then I would suggest that the reader is misusing the document. - An iPop app: For me, the usefulness would be limited. I downloaded PrincOps to my laptop, so I can't imagine where I be that I would be coding and not have PrincOps with me. I do happen to have it on my phone, where I have in fact wished that it was easier to navigate, but that may be due to lack of function of the app I use rather than a shortcoming of PrincOps itself. I've only used it on my phone to look up answers to idle questions that have occurred to me, but certainly not for any serious reading. - A web app: I would have little use for it, but I don't claim that others wouldn't. In short, some of your suggestions may indicate the need for a new book, rather than a reworking of Principles of Operation to serve a new purpose. But as far as wholesale changes, I don't see the need for it. - mb
