IBM REXX COMPILER

BERT MCER
IBM

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 IBM REXX Compiler

Bert Moser

IBM Vienna Software Development Lab

Wien 1, Cobdengasse 2

c / o IBM Austria
Obere Donaustrasse 95
A - I 020 Austria
EUROPE

MOSER@VABVMI .IINUSl .IBM.COM

( + 431) 21 145-4476

May/9 1

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Overview

REXX and Interpreters

CMS REXX Compiler COMPLEMENTS SPI

REXX Compiler Improvements and Requirements

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I
REXX History

1 '79 Mike Cowlishaw becomes father of REXX I

'83 Command Language for IBMs VM/CMS
'87 SAA Procedures Language
'89 REXX supported on MVS
'90 REXX supported on OS/2 and OS/400

I ~2/89IBM announces the CMS REXX Compiler I

Available since 7/89

Developed by IBM Vienna Software Development Lab

Based on IBM Israel Scientific Center's feasibility study

- Compilability of REXX
- Appropriaterun-time performance improvements

I 11/89 Library becomes a separate product I

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REXX Positioning w Compllsr

Development SDL vlonba

rn

~ ~~~

I
COMMAND PROCESSOR TEXT EDITOR

System Commands Editor Commands

Program Log ic Program Log ic

R E x x

Program Logic
J
System Commands
\ppl ication Commands
Program Logic

'CASUAL' APPLICATION APPLICATION PROTOTYPING

AND PROGRAMMING

REXX initially implemented by Interpreters

- Excellent debugging features

- Very short and appealing edit/run cycle

HOWEVER
- Better performance desirable

yl(l

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HOWdoes a REXX Interpreter work w Compller

Development SDL %nM

a

I Single Step Approach I

i
1

REXX
Source
Interpreter
Program

Running REXX Program

0 Everything needs to be done at run-time

On every REXX program invocation

e REXX source must be made available to every user

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How does the REXX Comp iler work

Two Step Approach I

u1
Compile

Comp i 1 ed
REXX
Program
Source
Program
Comp i 1 e r
Program
Documen-
t a t ion

Run

---
4
-

REXX
Library

~~~~~

Running REXX Program

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Compiled REXX Program

Compiled Code I
Executable /370 instructions
- Reentrant and relocatable

Invocations of Library routines

References to static symbols resolved

Symbol Tree I
Descriptors for all static symbols
Upwards and downwards connected
Symbols identifiable by their name

Control Blocks I
Run-time required
Pre-allocated and pre-initialized

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I
Forms of Compiled REXX Programs

1 EXEC-type I
Same behavior as interpreted - ”transparently” replace

Same way of invocation and search sequence

EXECLOADable
* Shared segment capability

Module-type I
Other HLL compilers’ object format (ESD, RLD, TXT,..)

Linkable to other object programs

* Need to be LQADed - can be GEN’d into a module

Search order is different

CMS restriction: SVC-type arg/parmIist (PLIST)

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Iz m
Product Components

Set of phases performing all compilation tasks

Compiled with IBM SAAC/370 Compiler

@ Prerequisite when compiling:

IBM C/370 Library V I (5668-039) or later

Run-time Library

Routines invoked from compiled REXX programs

Common toevery compiled program

Initialization, Termination, ...

Too bulky as to be copied to every program

String Arithmetic, Conversions, Comparisons, Built-in Functions, Compound Variable
AccesdHandling, ...

Extremely timecritical --> writtenin Assembler

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Usage Scenarios

Compiler/lnterpreter COMPLEMENT Each Other I

Existing REXX Programs

Comp i 1 e Run
--e b-
Correct/Migrate

Newly Developed REXX Programs

Editor REXX Source

I
-__-___--.

NOCOMPILE Check Syntax

1
rxr
REXX Interpreter De bug REXX Compiler
___

Compile
_ p _ _ _ _ _ _ - p

Run
REXX Library
- ____

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Compiled REXX - Benefits

Significantly Faster than Interpreted

"Plug-compatible" with Interpreted

Language Equivalent to Interpreter

"Unreadable" REXX Programs

Comprehensive Program Documentation

~~~ ~

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 - ... wars(
compllor

Compiled REXX Benefits Developnmnt (IDL Manna

I Comprehensive REXX Program Documentation I

Source and Cross-Reference Listings
Syntax check whole program
More accurate messages
Begin debugging with more-correct programs

Improveprogramquality
Increase developer productivity

I "Unreadable" Compiled REXX I

Executable /370 code

Provide programintegrity
Improved
maintainability
0 Protect REXX-coded assets

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Source Listing Example

SAMPLE EXEC G1
CMS REXX COMPILER 1.1.0 TIME: 11:35:02 DATE: 30 May 1989

IF DO SEL LINE C -+-1-+--2--+---3---+---4---+---5--

1 /* SAMPLE i n c o r r e c t REXX program */

2
3 Parse Arg Tmp
Val.
4 = TRANSLATE(tmp)
5 l i n e . 2 = LEFT(val.,2, '40')

+++EAGGA00771S I n v a l i d o r m i s s i n g argumeni(s) on b u i l t - i n f u n c t i o n
6 $ = EXTFUNC(line.2)
7 C a l l INTFUNC 2
8 Exit
9
10 INTFUNK: Procedure Expose x. i
11
+++EAGGA00072S Label not found
Signal on NOVALUE NAME y-value
T
12 Do x . i
1 13 I f x . i / / 2 /= 0 then
1 1 14 say "Odd: x. i
1 15 End
Ret16 urn
17
18 my-valu: Say "NOVALUE r a i s e da t :s i g l
19 Ret urn

20
+++EAGGA00654S Unmatched
1
* end o f program SAMPLE
ql/*ll

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 rn
Cross Reference List Example

TTRIBUTE ITEM REFERENCES

LABELS,BUILT-INFUNCTIONS,EXTERNAL RTNS ____

EXTFUNC E X 1 RTN 6
INTFUNC EXTRTN 7
INTFUNK LABEL 10(d)
LEFT BUILT-IN 5
MY VALU LABEL 18 (dl
MY-VALUE LABEL+++ 11(u)
TR~NSLATE BUILT-IN 4
CONSTANTS ___

'NOVALUE raised at: ' L I T STR 18

'Odd: L I T STR 14
0 NUMBER 13
2 CONST SYM 5 6
2 NUMBER 5 7 13
'40' L I T STR 5
SIMPLEVARIABLES -

$ SIMP VAR 6(s)

I SIMP VAR 10 12 13 14
SIGL SIMP VAR 18
TNP SIMP VAR 3(s) 4
STEMS AND COMPOUND VARIABLES _____

LINE. 2 COMP VAR 5(s) 6

VAL. STEM 4(s) 5
x. I COMP VAR 10 12 13 14

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I
Compiled REXX - Benefits

I Language Equivalence with

... - Compller

Osrrbpmsnt 3OL Vlrnw

REXX Interpreter

NO compiler-specific language features !

1
m

@ Minimize migration effort

Almost all REXX programs run unchanged
- except those with INTERPRET instructions

1 Flag Non-SAA Items - optional I

Support SAA Procedures Language level 1.1

Ease programming for multiple SAA environments

IBM REXX Compiler

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Compiled REXX - Benefits m u m u m m

I "Plug-Compatibility" with Interpreted Programs I

Identical external interfaces - invocation and use

0 "Transparently" replace interpreted

No restriction on mutual invocation

I 31-Bit Capability I
Compiler, Library, and Compiled Code run and
use storage above the 16 Mega-byte line

0 Make room for others below the line

IBM REXX Compiler

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Why is REXX Hard to Compile

I No Conventional Block Structure [

PROCEDURE is an executable instruction
- Not a syntactic boundary

Variables’ life-time is dynamic

- Depends on calling sequence
- ”Exposure” among procedures

No denotation of the END of a procedure

- Logical end is an executed RETURN

SIGNAL I
Control can be transferred to everywhere
- Even into ”procedure” and loop bodies

Computed GOT0 - SIGNALVALUE

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Why is REXX Hard to Compile m m m

No data types I
All data is ”character string”

Sometimes contents must be ”numeric”,

- Wholenumber”, or ”Boolean”

No declarations 1
Variables come and go - EXECCOMM/DROP

Can be shared with external programs

Names of variables can be computed

- Tails of compound variables
Value of variables only limited by storage
- Storage for values must be allocated dynamically

Arithmetic precision can be set dynamically

- NUMERIC DIGITS

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Run-Time
Performance
Improvements w Compllsr

Development aoL Vienna

1 Performance gains depend on program mix I

TIMES Performance
faster than Category
Programs with a lot of ... Interpreter

Default-precision Arithmetic 6 - 10+

String Arithmetic 4 - 25 VERY HIGH

Assignments 6 - 10

Changes to Variables' Values 4 - 6

HIGH
Constants and Simple Variables 4- 6
--
Reuse of Compound Variables 2 - 4 MEDIUM

Host Commands 1 - LOW

0 Up to 30% CPU load reduction reported - //

... better than
last CPU upgrade"
0

0 Savings example
Interpreted
program
runs 60 times a day (12 sec's)
us i ng 12 min's CPU
assume
improvement of 6 times
runs
compiled 2 min's

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Differences to CMS Re1 6 Interpreter

1 INTERPRET Instruction not Supported I

Rarely used

e Compiler diagnoses - no code generated

Try to avoid

Interpret target’= ’expr

Call SETVAR target,expr

RXSETVAR sample Assembler program

User’s Guide & Reference SHl9-8120

e Restructure the program

Isolate interpretative part

Make it a separate program, and
Let the Interpreter handle it

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 ... wars(
Compller

Differencesto CMS Re1 6 Interpreter Development SDL nbnm

1 TRACE Instruction and Function not Supported 1

Does not change the semantics of a REXX program

No need to change REXX program

TRACE instruction - NOP instruction

TRACE built-in function - lrON
Interpreter default - "N"

Diagnosed with an informational message

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Compiled REXX Programs

Save CPU Time & Reduce System Load

Improve Program Quality

Increase Developer Productivity

Protect REXX-Coded Assets

Allow to Keep Applications in REXX

Save Expensive Rewrites to Other HLL’s

Attract to Write Even More REXX Applications

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Improvements

I Reduce Storage Needed at Compile-Time I

I Improve Compiler's Performance I

Improve AccesdHandling of Compound Vars I

- Binarytails
- Faster algorithms

I ImproveBuilt-inFunctions I

~~

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Complains

Compiled REXX Increases Paging I

Interpreted

Comp i1 ed

Running compiled on an I/O bound systems makes it WORSE

I Compiled REXX Scatters Storage I

Sorry for this one - was a bug
4 Bytes of a control block left over - sometimes

I Compiled REXX Needs More Storage when Run I

NO
Both implementations show similar storage consumption

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Requirements

I Reduce Disk Space Needed by Compiled REXX I

Remember:Code + Symbol Tree + Control Blocks

Improve Assignment

Special casing by Compiler = lot of code

- Trade-off between performance and storage

- Move case distinction to Library

Compress Compiled Output

Compiler option

- Reduce med/large to size of source

- Automatically de-compress
- Reduce expensive I/O

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Requirements ...

I Static Binding I

Allow to link external subroutines and functions

For Module-type output only

Compiler option
Dualism - resolvedaddresddynamic invocation

Tie together REXX-written application

Function-package capability

I Tailorable Cross Reference Listing I

Make Xref of CONSTANTS and LITERALS optional

* Compileroption XREF(S)

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Requirements =.. OsreIoDment SOL vlenlu\

1 Library as "Test" Shared Segment I

e Test new Library in parallel with "production" version

I Relax Restriction on INTERPRET I

e SEVERE ERROR - NO code generated

a Diagnoseas ERROR - produce code

Code should raise ERROR when executed

- Allow to program around
- Parse Version & REXXC370

- Support development of multi-environmental programs

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Requirements WBB

I Implement INTERPRET I
Long Range Consideration

I Provide an MVS REXX Compiler I

Accepted

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MVS Compiler - Requirements

Same language level as TSO/E Interpreter

Same external interfaces - invocation and run

Similar behavior and benefits asCMS REXX Compiler

* Cross compile ?

- REXX code could run unchanged in VM and MVS

- No need to re-compile

Support MVS Parameter List Conventions

- EFPL for external functions

- CPPL for TSO/E commands
- MVS JCL parameters for batch programs
- CALL command parameters for foreground programs

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