In today’s world where compilers reign supreme, whispers of the power of assembly language persist. Compiler inefficiencies in generating code for interpreters have led some to explore writing interpreters in assembly to outperform them. An example includes a fast interpreter for the Uxn CPU, achieving a 10-20% speed increase over the reference implementation. Delving into assembly reveals critical optimizations, like storing key values in registers and using indirect threading for efficient opcode handling. The journey involves dissecting code, reversing engineered values, and building jump tables for seamless execution. Harnessing assembly’s power requires meticulous attention to detail and strategic register management.
https://www.mattkeeter.com/blog/2024-07-12-interpreter/