21 Mar
2007
21 Mar
'07
7:45 p.m.
I know there was a FORTRAN compiler for the SuperPET,
but having not
used it, I have to ask what the available target CPUs were - 6809,
6502, or both?
With its banked 64Kbyte memory card, the SuperPET weighed in at 96K -
plenty of RAM for serious work, but the processors were still slow,
and IEEE disks with software GPIB handshake were no speed demons
either.
PETs were popular in some lab settings, so I would think that if
FORTRAN would have been available for it, there would have been a
niche market. Perhaps that's why the SuperPET had FORTRAN as an
option.
The superpet was a joint development between Commodore and the University
of Waterloo here in Ontario - It was originally developed as a way to teach
mainframe languages (at the time) without having to have mainframes (This
is why it is sometimes referred to as the Micro-Mainframe).
The Waterloo software (including all the compiled languages) runs pretty
much independant of the 6502, using the original PET hardware just for I/O.
(In fact, the MicroWAT, a small stand-alone 6809 computer ram the Waterloo
languages without a 6502/PET board at all). There are no options to compile
code for the 6502.
It is very slow to use - but I suppose that wasn't a major problem for the
learning environment it was intended for - Most of the programs compiled
would be small, and it sure beat having to relocate to a mainframe shop.
I have two working SuperPETs, and I love them - not only do they have my
favorite 8-bit processor (6809), but also APL which I was fanatical about
when I first started "discovered computers" playing with the university
mainframe. Very cool machines!
Dave
--
dave06a (at) Dave Dunfield
dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com
com Collector of vintage computing equipment:
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