On Monday, 10 September 2018 at 13:43:46 UTC, Joakim wrote:
LDC recently added a linux/AArch64 CI for both its main
branches and 64-bit ARM, ie AArch64, builds have been put out
for both linux and Android. It does not seem that many are
paying attention to this sea change that is going on with
computing though, so let me lay out some evidence.
At my workplace six years ago, the developers were all
allocated a core i5 ultrabook- likely with 4 GBs of RAM and a
128 GB SSD, though I don't remember those specs- and a 27"
2560X1440 display with which to get our work done. I was pretty
happy with the display, the best I'd ever used to that point.
I'm guessing the setup cost my employer a couple thousand
dollars per developer.
I picked up an Android/AArch64 smartphone earlier this year,
with 6 GBs of RAM, 128 GBs of flash, a Snapdragon 835 octa-core
CPU, and a 5.5" 2560X1440 display. This is the fastest computer
I've ever owned, and it fits in 6 cubic inches and weighs a
little more than a third of a pound. It cost me approximately
$700.
That is a stunning change in mobile capabilities in just six
years, where what used to be a mobile developer workstation now
comes packed into a smartphone at a fraction of the cost.
If you think the phone doesn't actually perform, I borrowed a
2015-model Macbook Air with a core i5 and 4 GBs of RAM and
built the last pure C++ version of ldc, 0.17, using both cores
with `-ninja -j5`. It took two minutes with clang from
Homebrew, the same amount of time it takes me to build the same
source on my smartphone with clang by running `ninja -j9`.
This phone has been my development hardware since early this
year, by pairing it with a $30 bluetooth keyboard and a $5
stand to hold it up. I'm typing this long forum post up on it
now.
Tech companies are starting to realize this and going after the
desktop/laptop PC markets with various 64-bit ARM products:
https://www.engadget.com/2018/08/09/samsung-galaxy-note-9-dex/
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/08/samsungs-tab-s4-is-both-an-android-tablet-and-a-desktop-computer/
https://youtube.com/watch?v=uLvIAskVSUM
https://www.anandtech.com/show/13309/lenovo-yoga-c630-snapdragon-850-windows
That last link notes 25 hours of battery life with a
Windows/AArch64 laptop, one of the key benefits of ARM, which
is why even Microsoft has come around.
Yes, I know, these devices won't replace your quad-core Xeon
workstation with 32-64 GBs of RAM anytime soon, but most people
don't need anywhere near that level of compute. That's why PC
sales keep dropping while mobile sales are now 6-7X that per
year:
https://www.businessinsider.com/PC-sales-are-continuing-to-slump-fewer-are-sold-now-than-when-the-iPhone-launched/articleshow/62547330.cms
https://www.androidauthority.com/smartphone-sales-idc-2018-871363/
Most of those mobile devices running iOS have AArch64 CPUs, and
google said last December that "over 40% of Android devices
coming online have 64-bit support," which is why they're
requiring apps with native libraries to support it by next fall:
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2017/12/improving-app-security-and-performance.html
D now has mostly working AArch64 support, with the ldc 1.11
release last month:
https://github.com/ldc-developers/ldc/releases/tag/v1.11.0
That is the result of years of intermittent AArch64 patches
added by the core teams of ldc and gdc- David, Iain, Kai,
Johannes, Dan, and others- to which I recently added some
Android patches. You too can pitch in with the few remaining
issues or try out the AArch64 support with your own D code.
This company provides a free linux/AArch64 CI for OSS projects,
LDC uses it:
http://blog.shippable.com/shippable-arm-packet-deliver-native-ci-cd-for-arm-architecture
Despite all this, D may never do very well on mobile or
AArch64, even though I think it's well-suited for that market.
But at the very least, you should be looking at mobile and
AArch64, as they're taking over the computing market.
Is it possible to develop versus a NVidia Jetson, CUDA included?
