20 Sep
1998
20 Sep
'98
7:15 p.m.
Doug Yowza wrote:
May a standards group visit both your houses! (Ancient Swiss curse.)
Java is the closest thing we've got today to an architecture-neutral
executable environment. The Java machine is very well documented, and the
environment has goodies like a GUI and networking defined as well.
Neither BASIC nor C nor anything else today has those things going for it.
Most of the simulators written today are being distributed as Win95
executables. Forty years from now, if your kids are faced with writing a
Win95 emulator before they can run the Edsac emulator, they will lose
interest in the Edsac before you can say "convoluted API".
I guess I spend too much time not dealing with what's distributed
_today_. I've got a bunch of emulators, and most of them are MSDOS
executables. (Some are for MAC and ST etc -- I do like variety).
I have yet to see a Win-95-specific TRS-80 or CoCo emulator. (The Java
TRS-80 emulator I've seen needs a _LOT_ of work).
--
Ward Griffiths <mailto:gram@cnct.com> <http://www.cnct.com/home/gram/>
When I was crossing the border into Canada, they asked me if I had any
firearms with me. I said "Well, what do you need?" -- Steven Wright
Or just
write them in BASIC. Everyone knows BASIC, and despite best
efforts, its not going away.
I would pick ANSI C. It is not going away either, has a formal standard,
and if coded properly (not straying from the ANSI standard), will be
portable.