1 Oct
2004
1 Oct
'04
8:39 a.m.
On Tue, 28 Sep 2004, Roger Merchberger wrote:
If you consider MERGEing different basic programs (if
you MERGE in a new
program where line numbers match, most basics that I'd worked with would
replace the original statement with the new... if you count that, it was
rather common in the CoCo world.
BASIC "code" is data, interpreted by an interpreter program,
so this does not count as self-modifying in a global sort of way.
In fact the whole idea of self-modifying and to a limited extent,
stored-program is somewhat slippery.
Non-stored-program computers, like the old Harvard relay
calculators and new Microchip Inc's PICs, can however simulate
a stored-program computer, by having the fixed, unchanging
program be an interpreter for a scheme that is, in effect,
stored-program. This isn't very amazing or even notable, since
"real" stored-program computers are made out of dumb things like
transistors or even tubes, so making one out of a Harvard arch
"computer" is only a subset.