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0 pointsshafyy1y ago0 comments

Ok, but my understanding is that that they are mostly deterministic. And that there are initiatives like Reproducible Builds (https://reproducible-builds.org) that try to move even more in that direction.

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Wowfunhappy1y ago· 1 in thread

But what does "mostly" mean? You can compile the same code twice and literally get two different binaries. The bits don't match.

Sure, those collections of bits tend to do exactly the same thing when executed, but that's is in some sense a subjective evaluation.

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Szundi said in a sibling comment that I was "completely [missing] the point on purpose" by bringing up compiler determinism. I think that's fair, but it's also why I opened my post by saying "I agree [with the parent], but I want to try to define the language better." Most compilers in use today are literally not deterministic, but they are deterministic in a different sense, which is useful as a comparison point to LLMs. Well, which sense? What is the fundamental quality that makes a compiler more predictable?

I'd like to try to find the correct words, because I don't think we have them yet.

shafyyOP1y ago

I'm not an compiler expert, not by far. But my understanding is that if you compile the same code on the same machine for the same target, you'll get the same bits. Only minor things like timestamps that are sometimes introduced might differ. In this sense, maybe they are not deterministic. But I think it's fair to classify them as "determinstic" compared to LLMs.

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