TABLE OF CONTENTS Another computing dinosaur the stack machine evolved multiple subspecies. In fact, the stack machine actually may not be a dead end in computing evolution. To paraphrase a well-known US presidential quotation describing a somewhat questionable situation, It all depends on what your definition of stack (machine) is.
A stack is simply defined as a memory device in which data may be stored and from which they may be retrieved in, , a last in first out order ([108], p. 64). Stacks have been widely used by system programmers, especially for the implementation of compilers and interpreters ([108], p. 63). The two general instructions used to access the stack are to PUSH a value onto the top of the stack to store it and to POP the value off the top of the stack to access it.
Koopman [236] has done an excellent job of defining and surveying stack-machine architectures, which fall into a total of 12 categories based on a three-axis taxonomy. The first axis represents the number of stacks: single or multiple (S or M). The second axis specifies the size of dedicated stack memory: small or large (S or L). The third axis represents the number of operands in the instruction format (0, 1, or 2). Thus SS0 represents a single stack machine with a small stack memory and a 0-operand instruction format an example of which is the Burroughs B5000/6000/7000 family. SS2 machines include the Intel...
