Execution Architecture: The DELtran Experiment

Execution architectures include Directly Executed Languages, or DEL´s, which are tailored to particular combinations of software and hardware technologies. In this paper, we review the general notion of DEL´s, and show how they compare to traditional instruction set architectures. We focus on general techniques for synthesizing DEL´s rather than performance questions per se, however. There are four aspects to this design problem: Naming: relating identifiers to objects. Formatting: associating objects to arguments/results. Control: specifying the order of interpretation. Function: operating on objects identified by the naming and format mechanisms, in the order specified by the control mechanism.