What is the Difference Between MIPS and ARM?

MIPS and ARM are two different instruction set architectures (ISAs) that belong to the family of Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC). Both architectures are used in various applications, but they have some key differences:

1. Instruction Set Architecture (ISA): MIPS and ARM processors have different instruction sets, which dictate how they execute commands. MIPS is a RISC architecture, while ARM processors use a hybrid of RISC and Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) concepts.
2. Registers: MIPS has 32 integer registers for arithmetic operations, while ARM has only 16 registers.
3. Endianness: MIPS and ARM have different endianness, which refers to the order in which data is stored in memory.
4. Memory Access: MIPS has a load-store architecture, where only load and store instructions can access memory. In contrast, ARM allows other instructions to access memory as well.
5. Delay Slot: MIPS has a delay slot, where the instruction following a branch or jump is always executed. ARM does not have this feature.
6. Application Domain: ARM is often the preferred choice for mobile and IoT devices due to its power efficiency, while MIPS is typically used in niche areas such as embedded systems and specialized applications.

Porting code from MIPS to ARM or vice versa can be challenging due to these differences in instruction set, memory access, and register architecture. However, both architectures have their own advantages and are chosen based on the specific needs of an application and the resources available.

Comparative Table: MIPS vs ARM

Here is a table comparing the differences between MIPS and ARM architectures:

MIPS is a CISC architecture mainly used in general-purpose computing, while ARM is a RISC architecture primarily used in embedded systems. MIPS has delay slots and does not have separate condition execution or a condition register, whereas ARM has conditional execution, a separate condition register, and lacks delay slots.