EXACTLY. That was why I asked the question in the first place. It is a matter of using the all facilities that are available, and 64-bit arithmetic instructions are just one of the z/Architecture instruction enhancements that COBOL/PL1 generated code could use without any problem in a 31-bit addressing environment.
PERFORMANCE is the reason. Reducing total CPU consumption is a large focus in these economic times, so as to be able to avoid hardware upgrades costing many buckets of currency and still handle increased workload. Using one instruction in place of 10 or 20 or more is a really good way to do that. We don't use much floating point (though there is some), so the decimal floating point question isn't all that critical here. Besides, assembler is always an altrernative if you really, really need it. (Yes Virginia, there are still assembler application programmers alive and programming... :) If a current or near-future COBOL used more of the newer ALS instructions to best advantage it would be worth the compiler upgrade and increased maintenance charges. Otherwise it isn't nearly so attractive a business proposition. Peter > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Lloyd Fuller > Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 8:33 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Does Ent. COBOL 4.1 generate 64-bit binary > arithmetic instructions? > > There needs to be an expectation level set here: > > 64 bit addressing does not equal 64 bit arithmetic. > > You can use the 64 bit arithmetic instructions WITHOUT using > 64 bit addressing. Our product does it all of the time. You > just need to be running on the correct architecture to use > the 64 bit arithmetic instructions. This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
