>> ... meanwhile, the overhead of the interpreter increases
>> geometrically with the program's size,
>
>I don't think you meant "geometrically" in its formally-defined
>sense. Overhead is actually linearly proportional to program
>execution time (not size), it just becomes way more noticeable
>and painful with big programs that take a long time to run.
really? dang.. gotta go back and reread.
i had in fact intended the formal meaning. somewhere, i'd
gotten the impression that lexing, parsing, and all the other
fun takes place in omega-squared time, rather that straight
omega. it's entirely possible that i've gotten my subjects
confused, though.. i've spent a lot of time on the effects of
proper and improper subsystem paritionings, which do have a
geometric scope.
for any collection of N entities which need to communicate,
there are N(N-1)/2 possible channels of communication among
them. well partitioned systems 'narrow the bridges' by
limiting the number of channels in the system as a whole, as
well as those which are necessary for any single entity to
function. badly partitioned systems sprout new channels
between entities like kudzu, and with similar effect. the
moral: if you don't keep careful track of your interfaces, the
code will explode once you try to take it past a certain size.
i guess linear time does make sense once you think about it,
though.. a compiler's basically just a great whackin' DFA, and
those are pretty darned linear. mea culpa.. i was talking
compilation, and thinking about linking. ;-)
mike stone <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 'net geek..
been there, done that, have network, will travel.
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