"Noah Hart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Why can't new OP codes be simply added to the end, so that the > serializations will always work? >
We do not often add new opcodes. The usual change is to alter the meaning and operation of existing opcodes. We also delete existing opcodes about as often as we add new ones. Furthermore, the opcode numbers are not chosen haphazardly. The opcode numbers are in many cases carefully aligned with token numbers in the parser in order to make the code generate smaller. And opcodes that are often used together within switch statements are grouped together numerically so that the jump tables used to implement the switch() statements are smaller - resulting in a smaller executable. -- D. Richard Hipp <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
