diff --git a/libguile/procs.h b/libguile/procs.h index c94e0c7ee..12511d96f 100644 --- a/libguile/procs.h +++ b/libguile/procs.h @@ -88,8 +88,53 @@ typedef struct scm_dsubr #define SCM_SETENV(x, e) SCM_SETCDR (x, e) #define SCM_TOP_LEVEL(SCM_ENV) (SCM_NULLP(SCM_ENV) || (SCM_BOOL_T == scm_procedure_p (SCM_CAR (SCM_ENV)))) -/* Prcoedure-with-setter - */ +/* Procedure-with-setter + + Four representations for procedure-with-setters were + considered before selecting this one: + + 1. A closure where the CODE and ENV slots are used to represent + the getter and a new SETTER slot is used for the setter. The + original getter is stored as a `getter' procedure property. For + closure getters, the CODE and ENV slots contains a copy of the + getter's CODE and ENV slots. For subr getters, the CODE contains + a call to the subr. + + 2. A compiled closure with a call to the getter in the cclo + procedure. The getter and setter are stored in slots 1 and 2. + + 3. An entity (i.e. a struct with an associated procedure) with a + call to the getter in the entity procedure and the setter stored + in slot 0. The original getter is stored in slot 1. + + 4. A new primitive procedure type supported in the evaluator. The + getter and setter are stored in a GETTER and SETTER slot. A call + to this procedure type results in a retrieval of the getter and a + jump back to the correct eval dispatcher. + + Representation 4 was selected because of efficiency and + simplicity. + + Rep 1 has the advantage that there is zero penalty for closure + getters, but primitive getters will get considerable overhead + because the procedure-with-getter will be a closure which calls + the getter. + + Rep 3 has the advantage that a GOOPS accessor can be a subclass of + , but together with rep 2 it suffers from a + three level dispatch for non-GOOPS getters: + + cclo/struct --> dispatch proc --> getter + + This is because the dispatch procedure must take an extra initial + argument (cclo for rep 2, struct for rep 3). + + Rep 4 has the single disadvantage that it uses up one tc7 type + code, but the plan for uniform vectors will very likely free tc7 + codes, so this is probably no big problem. Also note that the + GETTER and SETTER slots can live directly on the heap, using the + new four-word cells. */ + #define SCM_PROCEDURE_WITH_SETTER_P(obj) (SCM_TYP7 (obj) == scm_tc7_pws) #define SCM_PROCEDURE(obj) SCM_CADR (obj) #define SCM_SETTER(obj) SCM_CDDR (obj)