X32 ABI
x32 ABI (Application Binary Interface) is an under development Linux project that allows programs compiled for the x32 ABI to run in the 64-bit mode of x86-64 while only using 32-bit pointers and data fields. Though this limits the program to a virtual address space of 4 GB it also decreases the memory footprint of the program and in some cases can allow it to run faster. The best results during testing were with the 181.mcf SPEC CPU 2000 benchmark in which the x32 ABI version was 32% faster than the x86-64 version.
History
A concern was brought up by Linus Torvalds in an email on August 26, 2011 that the use of 32-bit time values in the x32 ABI could cause problems in the future. This is because the use of 32-bit time values would cause the time values to overflow in the year 2038. The developers of the x32 ABI are planning to change the time values to 64-bit.
A presentation at the Linux Plumbers Conference on September 7, 2011 covered the x32 ABI.
References
External links
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