General register - Revision history

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2021-04-08T19:27:19Z

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2018-09-12T18:51:21Z

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A '''general register''' is a [[register]] in a [[Central Processing Unit|CPU]] which can be used for any purpose: for use in a calculation; as a [[pointer]], to hold an [[address]]; as an [[index register]], etc.

Early computer [[architecture]]s often had only a single register, the [[accumulator]] (because the [[vacuum tube]]s from which the [[logic]] of those machines were constructed were bulky and expensive); in some cases, it could not even be used as a pointer, and [[self-modifying code]] has to be resorted to. After that, additional registers tended to be specialized (e.g. index registers).

It was only later that it became clear that a pool of registers which could be used for any function would be of value, especially for [[compiler]]s, which often had to chose which variables to keep in registers (as opposed to in [[main memory]], in [[automatic variable]]s on the [[stack]]). Almost all modern machines have many general registers - in some cases, large numbers of them.

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	It was only later that it became clear that a pool of registers which could be used for any function would be of value, especially for [[compiler]]s, which often had to chose which variables to keep in registers (as opposed to in [[main memory]], in [[automatic variable]]s on the [[stack]]). Almost all modern machines have many general registers - in some cases, large numbers of them.		It was only later that it became clear that a pool of registers which could be used for any function would be of value, especially for [[compiler]]s, which often had to chose which variables to keep in registers (as opposed to in [[main memory]], in [[automatic variable]]s on the [[stack]]). Almost all modern machines have many general registers - in some cases, large numbers of them.

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