5 Aug
2004
5 Aug
'04
10:19 a.m.
On Wed, 4 Aug 2004, ben franchuk wrote:
PS. Years ago in BYTE ( early 1990's? ) they had
spoke up of a CPU
designed for reliable operation for real time control of things like
power plants or subways or aircraft. They claimed it was so simple that
programs could be proven to be bug free. I was wondering if they
manufactured or sold any the devices.
That would be the British "Viper" CPU. Computational theory suggests
(proves, perhaps? - it's been a few years) that use of hardware or
software stacks renders behavior indeterminate. So, no subroutine calls
or dynamically allocated variables.
Has anyone ever seen the program listing for a real system implementation
using this beast? Byte mentioned the RAF and UK Defence Ministry as being
sponsors for its development, IIRC.
Steve
Quote of the Year:
"The five person voting panel voted 57 to 3.14 in
favour of getting rid of the Diebold machines."
- 'Downside'