Item — HN Reader

So if we join forces and create a reusable compiler backend so not every compiler writer has to implement the same optimizers and code generators over and over again, then this is bad because it's a monoculture? How strange is that?

To me, it sounds more like political propaganda from a few idealists who want to justify why - instead of participating in a joint project - they want to develop everything themselves from scratch in their favourite technology. For this there is, nota bene, also a common term: "Not invented here" syndrome.

1 comments

> So if we join forces and create a reusable compiler backend so not every compiler writer has to implement the same optimizers and code generators over and over again, then this is bad because it's a monoculture? How strange is that?

Why is that strange? You now have a diverse set of frontends and a monoculture on the backend. A world with Chrome, Chromium, Edge, Brave, and the Yandex browser is still a browser engine monoculture.

The word "monoculture" means something completely different. LLVM is by definition no "monoculture" because it integrates a diverse set of function and is developed and maintained by a diverse set of people, and there is a plethora of versions and applications. With your definition each country or company would be a monoculture; and mathematics would be a monoculture because it always applies the same rules; and all fuel driven cars would be a monoculture; and electrical engineering would be a monoculture because everyone applies Maxwells laws; you name it. This misuse of terms is done with the intention of creating a negative connotation where none is justified.