16 Mar
2017
16 Mar
'17
7:30 p.m.
On 03/16/2017 06:28 PM, ben via cctalk wrote:
But was FORTRAN that portable? Other than the IBM 1130
I cannot think
of a small computer that had ample I/O and memory to run and compile
FORTRAN. All the other 16 bitters seem to more paper tape I/O. I
suspect 90% of all university computers ended up as IBM 360 systems.
A few ended up with the VAX, but who knows what they ran.
Oh, dear--time for a history lesson.
1. Even the IBM 650 had a FORTRAN of sorts
2. One thing that was a sales point for the PDP-8 back in the day was
that for about $5K, you could get a computer that would run 4K FORTRAN:
http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/dec/pdp8/software/DEC-08-A…
3. FORTRAN was originally released, IIRC for the IBM 709, and was a
card-only system; versions for the 704, and, as previously mentioned,
the 650. I've used card-only FORTRANs on the 1620 and 1401.
4. The 8080/Z80 had FORTRAN, and I suspect there was also a FORTRAN for
the 8008 (if APL on the 8008 was possible, surely FORTRAN was).
5. I've never heard of a COBOL for the IBM 650.
--Chuck