Re: Compiler and interpreter origins

"Rodney M. Bates" <rbates@southwind.net>
9 Aug 2004 00:21:45 -0400

          From comp.compilers

Related articles
Compiler and interpreter origins la@iki.fi (Lauri Alanko) (2004-07-28)
Re: Compiler and interpreter origins Jeffrey.Kenton@comcast.net (Jeff Kenton) (2004-08-04)
Re: Compiler and interpreter origins rweaver@ix.netcom.com (Dick Weaver) (2004-08-05)
Re: Compiler and interpreter origins gah@ugcs.caltech.edu (glen herrmannsfeldt) (2004-08-05)
Re: Compiler and interpreter origins rbates@southwind.net (Rodney M. Bates) (2004-08-09)
Re: Compiler and interpreter origins nick.roberts@acm.org (Nick Roberts) (2004-08-09)
Re: Compiler and interpreter origins nmm1@cus.cam.ac.uk (2004-08-09)
Re: Compiler and interpreter origins slimick@venango.upb.pitt.edu (John Slimick) (2004-08-09)
Re: Compiler and interpreter origins Martin.Ward@durham.ac.uk (Martin Ward) (2004-08-10)
Re: Compiler and interpreter origins samiam@moorecad.com (Scott Moore) (2004-08-10)
Re: Compiler and interpreter origins beliavsky@aol.com (2004-08-11)
[4 later articles]
| List of all articles for this month |

From: "Rodney M. Bates" <rbates@southwind.net>
Newsgroups: comp.compilers
Date: 9 Aug 2004 00:21:45 -0400
Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net
References: 04-07-077
Keywords: history
Posted-Date: 09 Aug 2004 00:21:45 EDT

Lauri Alanko wrote:
>
> Firstly, back when everything was done in pure machine code or
> assembly, how common was the use of self-modifying code?


The first couple of machines I programmed (IBM 1620, IBM 1401) had no
address or index registers of any kind. So self-modifying code was
the only possible way to write things like loops going through arrays.
You could avoid getting hopelessly bogged down in tar, by working out
a couple of what would today be called design patterns and then
following them downright slavishly.


Later, the university paid extra for a 1620 "special feature" of
indirect addressing, which made it immeasurably easier. By the time I
discovered linked data structure, It was on an IBM 1410, which, as I
recall, had 3 index registers.


Post a followup to this message

Return to the comp.compilers page.
Search the comp.compilers archives again.