Ask HN: What is the most elegant instruction set

3 pointsjdmoreira5 comments

Let's optimize for hand written assembly and developer sanity but also fun.

What is the best instruction set / assembly language?

I'll accept both virtual machines and hardware.

My own preferences: 6809, 68K, ARM, and if x86 would be on the list at all it would be dead last.

Developer sanity would be my main driver for the lineup, with the note that of course a 6809 is a bit of a limited environment and there never was as far as I know a 68x version in 64 bits.

Never used the 6809, but considered it for a project. Seemed to me to be a very clean true 16 bit design. Also was on the verge of being obsolete when it was released.

Which Machines Do Computer Architects Admire? (2001)

https://people.cs.clemson.edu/~mark/admired_designs.html

That's a bit like asking the butcher which butcher has the best meat.

No, these are architects in 2001 looking back at earlier machines that influenced them.

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