2 Oct
2002
2 Oct
'02
9:02 a.m.
Ok, I've got a friend in academia who wants to
know:
What was the first computer to support indirect addressing?
I've taken this to be specifically memory indirect and not the use of index
registers (or "B-lines" - invented in 1949). I would think, perhaps, that
memory indirect was not really feasable until the use of core memory.
Some datum points from manuals found on web.
IBM704 (mid '50s) didn't
GE 625/635 (mid 60's) did
PDP8 (?) did
CDC160A (1961) did
<further searching>
The Manchester Mark 1 (1947-9) had an indirect jump (as well as index
registers) ... this probably takes the prize, then.
Haven't yet found a definitive answer as far as data access is concerned
While I expect no definite answer (as if I had asked
"what is the first
computer" :-), it should be an interesting discussion.
Andy