Re: future of programming languages

From: Alan Balmer (albalmer_at_att.net)
Date: 03/30/04 

Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 14:31:53 -0700

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 22:19:54 +0100, "Malcolm"
<malcolm@55bank.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:

>
>"Ben Pfaff" <blp@cs.stanford.edu> wrote in message
>>
>> I'm curious what you mean by "computers will have no CPUs."
>> Can you elaborate?
>>
>A typical computer has an instruction stream which passes through a limited
>number of registers or logic gates. Though nowadays there is often some
>parallelism, conceptually instructions are still executed in sequence.
>A nervous system doesn't work like that. Each nerve input is processed by
>neurons and output produced in a massively parallel system. Even when you
>remove protions of the brain, processing is often only slightly degraded.
>Nervous systems can do thing which it is very difficult to program computers
>to do, but are of real use away from the protected environment of
>pre-formatted input and defined output that most programs operate in.
>Recognising individual people by a visual image, for example, even if the
>face is partially obscured by a coffee mug.
>
First, there are indeed computers which process instructions in
parallel, even conceptually. They aren't even uncommon now.

Second, you didn't answer the question, unless you're trying to say
that "multiple CPUs processing in parallel" are not CPUs. 

-- 
Al Balmer
Balmer Consulting
removebalmerconsultingthis@att.net

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