1 Jan
2009
1 Jan
'09
5:49 a.m.
Subject: Language-specific CPUs was Re: uIEC/SD == AWESOME!
From: Cameron Kaiser <spectre at floodgap.com>
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:27:08 -0800 (PST)
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
C was written for or about the PDP-11. Just about all the C addressing
modes and basic OPs are native for pdp11 addressing and many instructions.
Then we have the WD Pascal Microengine that basically was the implementation
of P-code in microcode.
There are machines that are coded for forth primitives directly.
I believe somewhere there was or is a a Java engine.
Memory says there was a Wang machine that directly executed Basic.
Generally it was not uncommon but most were lost to time.
Allison
(Interesting question, though - I wonder what a
CPU might look like where you
could just throw C source code at it, for instance :)
Well, there *was* the AT&T Hobbit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T_Hobbit
Not quite that, but still optimized for C, allegedly. Never worked with
the architecture myself.
--
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Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com
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